Love has no Antidote
by purpledragonoffire
Summary: Naruto always thought that loving Sasuke was enough.He didn't dare want more. But what if his dreams grew after he gave his heart, body and soul to him? Can he risk his friendship for an uncertain love? Does he even stand a chance?An unexpected encounter with the reality leaves him wondering.Is there really no antidote for this poison named Love? Sasunaru, Yaoi*Editing in process*
1. Why are we friends?

**Chapter 1: Why are we Friends?**

"I don't know why I even bother waiting for you. I should just leave your fatass here. Less headache for me." Sasuke glared at his blond haired best friend for being late for the millionth time.

"HEY! I can't help it, my alarm didn't go off." Naruto said, walking off towards the school.

"You need to set your alarm for it to go off. Dobe".

"I did that, Teme" Naruto hurried after him. ' _Damn bastard with long legs and stupid speed_.'

"Oh, I believe you, deadlast."

"You do that. Asshole."

"Fucktard"

"Jerk"

"Baby face"

"…..that was a low blow, bastard"

"It was meant to be, Usuratonkachi" said Sasuke knowing full well how much his friend hated to be compared to a baby. Not only he has yet to lose his baby fat but his short stature and baby blue eyes made him look like a cute puppy. Though all of this cuteness goes down the drain when he opens his big mouth and talks rubbish.

"Troublesome." Came a bored response. "You guys are too loud, this early in the morning." Shikamaru Nara was having a peaceful walk to school which was unsurprisingly interrupted by the loudmouth blond. Though, at one look he can be described as an average looking guy, he was quite handsome with sharp dark wide set eyes and shoulder length hair tied in a tight ponytail on his head, hair sprouting from the tie in all direction making his head look like a pineapple.

"Shikaaaaaaa, Sasuke is bullying me."whined Naruto.

"Nothing new there, Naruto." Shikamaru muttered.

"Shikaaaaaaaa…"

"Not so loud, Naru." he said squinting his eyes. ' _I need a nap'_.

"Shut up, Moron. We need to hurry". Sasuke heard the first bell chime and was relieved to see the school gate still open.

The three of them were able to make to the homeroom in time. Atleast two of them did. Shika preferred to keep some distance from the arguing pair for the sake of his ears. Sasuke walked in to the room and towards the last bench avoiding the grabbing hands of his many fangirls, and a few fanboys. He usually sat at the corner left bench of the room, next to the only other classmate he can tolerate apart from his blond childhood friend and that lazy genius Nara.

"Looks like you made it on time". Tenten whispered, not lifting her eyes from the notes she was going through for her today's Test. Tenten has been Sasuke's bench mate for 2 years in a row now. Not that he is complaining, she was one of the very few girls who didn't fawn over him for his good looks or brain and treated him just like any other guy in the class. The 17-year-old was a transfer student as her parents moved from China years ago. She was actually a pretty girl with almond shaped brown eyes and long dark brown hair that she wore in two buns on both sides of her head above her ears.

"Don't I always." Sasuke scowled.

"You do, but usually not at a second before the last bell." She smirked, finally letting go of the boring notes to enjoy the irritation on Sasuke's beautiful face. Even with his glaring face, which seemed to be his standard look, he could be described as a handsome Ice prince. With his Pale, smooth ivory skin and deep onyx eyes set on an angular face with sharp jawline, he could give any supermodel a run for his money. Long Dark bangs framed his face from both sides giving him an aristocratic look. Even though the hair at the back of his head always stood up in the shape of duck's ass, he was still considered a fashion icon. Very few peoples knew that the haircut was an accident and that he does not use any hair gel to make it look like that. Hell, he doesn't even pay attention to how he looks most of the time but still manages to make people swoon on him, unnecessarily.

His looks and his wealthy background would always attract admirers from male and female populations. And this formed his non-trusting antisocial and blunt nature, not that anyone minds.

"Oh, Shut up. It's not as if there is anyone to scold here. That lazyass excuse of a teacher is yet to step in the class." He said opening his book bag and removing a few necessary books.

He sighed at the loud noises coming from the front of the class where two idiots where talking and challenging each other loudly about some video game.

Kiba Inuzuka was another loudmouth rivalling Naruto's idiocy. He could even be called his unidentical twin in terms of stupidity, volume and unnecessary energy level. Where Naruto was blond, Kiba was a brunette with shaggy dirty brown hair. Naruto was 5'6 being shortest among the guys but luckily being taller than most of the girls. Kiba was 5'8 a little taller than Naruto and loved to rub this fact on Naruto's face at every given opportunity. Both boys had face marks. Naruto had three whisker like marks on both cheeks which were a result of an abuse by one of his foster parents. Kiba had inverted red colour Trible triangles tattooed on both side of his face starting from below his eyes running vertically till the end of the cheek.

"Haah, I can defeat you using my toes and closed eyes" Shouted the brown-haired idiot.

' _Forget it, he is worse than the blond idiot.'_

"Oh, it seems everyone has already arrived. Sorry, I am late. I was helping an old sheep with scratching her back as she was…" Kakashi started.

"Liar" came a unified yell from Naruto and Sakura. Kakashi Hatake was one of the many weird teachers in the school. He wore a dark brown mask that covered half of his face leaving two mismatched eyes, one eye was grey while the other was a peculiar dark red. His silver-grey hair seemed to defy gravity by standing up and tilting on one side as if they were struck by a hurricane. He was always late and carried an orange book around.

"Hey, I'm not lying. You can go out and check. She is still standing in the teacher's parking."

"Kakashi Sensei, you should stick to your daily excuse of being lost in the road of life or something. Now, could we please start today's session." Sasuke asked, eager to avoid any more ultrasonic waves from the over loud students.

"Aah, you are right, as usual Sasuke. We should not waste any more time as time is precious. It is equivalent to money…"

Everyone rolled their eyes at this and someone cleared their throat interrupting his blabbering.

"Ok, Right. Today we have a new student joining us. He is at the principal's office and will be here any moment."

Right on que there was a knock on the door and there stood a tall red head boy, almost as tall as Sasuke maybe shorter by an inch. He had piercing teal green eyes which seem as cold as ice and as sharp as freshly sharpened knives. Dark circles adorned his eyes making his glare seem scarier. He walked towards the teacher and stood in front of the class, glaring at everyone and no one in particular. He was wearing a plain full sleeved white shirt with dark maroon pants and dark red running shoes.

"Hn." Sasuke's response seemed to echo in an acutely silent class. This, unfortunately was not for long as a certain blond idiot had the urge to give his two cents

"Ano, ano. Why do you not have any eyebrows? Do you shave them or did you never have them? Don't worry you can borrow some from Lee. He seems to have yours and everyone's share on his face" snickered Naruto.

By this time the red head had directed his deadly glare at Naruto and was emitting a killing aura.

Kakashi was about to stop the beginning of a blood bath but Sakura took the liberty to give Naruto his senses back.

"Ow!" Wailed Naruto holding his head as she smacked him hard on the back of his head.

"You shameless, rude blockhead. How could you even say these things? He just arrived. How inconsiderate of you. You know what? I am not surprised. What can you expect from a half wit, dumb parentless boy?" She shouted standing up with her hand fisted on her hips.

"Shut up, Sakura" Sasuke said in a cold monotone.

"But Sasuke, Naruto is…."Sakura started in a softer, politer tone.

"Just Shut up" He never had any patience for Sakura Haruno and the dobe was usually at the receiving end of her harsh words. The pink haired girl was one of the smartest and the prettiest girls in the class, with a heart shaped face and sparkling green eyes, however, she was blessed with a little too big of a forehead. The attractive girl would ruin all this charm by screeching every time Sasuke (her self-proclaimed future husband) was near.

"Ok Class, enough of this. We should let the new boy introduce himself" Kakashi said putting a stop to the commotion in the class. He looked at the red head but the said boy had yet to stop his glaring which somehow had ended up on Sakura instead of Naruto.

Kakashi sighed "Alright, this is Gaara Subaku. He is a transfer student from Suna. Please be nice to him. Sakura, I want you to show him around."

"Why me?" Sakura said in a low tone full of fear of not surviving a day in Gaara's company.

"Because, I said so. Now Gaara, you can sit there…Ok, whatever." Kakashi stopped himself as Gaara already walked to the right side of the class towards a vacant seat near the window. It was a perfect spot, with Shikamaru sleeping on his right, Choji eating chips silently behind him and the ever-silent Shino sitting in the front.

He sat there staring out of the window unaware of the thoughtful glance sent towards him by a supposed blond idiot. _'Are you lonely?'_

Lunch was another headache. Sasuke had no idea why he sits with so many people despite being a noise hater. He sat next to Shikamaru who was snoring and drooling on the table, Naruto on his other side who was chatting nonstop with his evil twin. Next to Kiba were Rock Lee, Choji Akimichi, Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, Tenten Cheng, Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno.

"No it doesn't. Shouldn't they call him something else rather than Big Foot. His feet weren't the only part that was big. Its wrong to focus on one thing. He must feel insulted." came Naruto's argument on a useless topic. Sasuke let out a mental yawn on the interesting topic 'forget it, I am tuning him out'.

"Hey Teme" ' _Oh,no'_

"What name do you think we should give Mr Big Foot so that he is not offended".

"Naruto, If you really don't want to offend him, you just need to keep your mouth shut". He muttered nibbling his veg sandwich. Kiba started howling with laughter and there were snickers around the table.

"Hey, stop insulting and answer the damn question"

"Ok, tell me what occasion it would be, for you to meet him. Will you meet him at dinner or during a morning walk"

"I don't know, they kinda look big and dangerous. I think I don't actually want to see Mr Big Foot".

Sasuke wanted to stuff his half-eaten sandwich in the moron's mouth. "So, why the hell are you even worried about offending him. Besides, Big Foot is a cryptid. There is no actual proof that they exist. So just call him whatever you want" ' _even if they did exist, I doubt he would mind you calling him anything as long as you run away after a glimpse and don't sit and chat'_

"So, I can call him Big Ass?"

"Do what you want and leave me alone."

"Hey Kiba, Sasuke said we can call him Big Ass, he won't mind."

Sasuke sighed and put is head on the table.

Opening his eyes for a moment he saw that there were several pieces of tomatoes on his plate. Naruto, as usual has moved all tomatoes from his salad to his, during that dumb Yeti conversation.

Sasuke sat up looking around his friends…no, correction, lunch group acquaintances.

Ino and Sakura were busy arguing as to who will be Sasuke's future bride, Choji was busy concentrating on munching chips, Shikamaru sleeping, Tenten telling Hinata about the awesomeness of weapons, Hinata, though listening, kept giving glances towards her not so secret crush-Naruto. Lee shouting his motto and not so new thoughts about joy of youth, exercising and crap, Shino being polite and staring quietly at his lunch pretending to listen.

Sasuke really could not understand, how he ended up sitting with so many people. People, who he had nothing in common with. People, who had nothing in common with each other. But they were there. Everyday. Talking to each other. About nothing and everything. His moving gaze ended on the bright yellow head.

' _H_ _ow did I end up here? How the hell am I even friends with so many people'_

As if to answer that, the yellow head turned and bright blue eyes met his deep onyx eyes.

"Hey Sasuke, Do you think Mr Big Ass would want to be our friend. He might be lonely."

Sasuke shook his head and let out a sigh _'I know why',_ "There is no more space on this table, Naruto, So no."


	2. 1 Stargazer and 3 White lilies

Hi all. I am sorry that I am late with this chapter. Caught a flu and then sat covering up on all the lost homework. So yeah. I will try to finish the next chapter within the next week. Here is the next chapter. Hope you like it, please review and tell me if it is good enough for me to continue. This chapter will be on Naruto's focus. I don't own Naruto.

"Hello" : Talking

"HELLO": Shouting

 _'hello'_ : thinking

Chapter 2 : One Stargazer and three White lilies

 _And if you feel you're sinking, I will jump right over_

 _Into cold, cold water for you_

 _And although time may take us into different places_

 _I will still be patient with you_

 _And I hope you know_

 _I won't let go_

 _I'll be your lifeline tonight_

 _I won't let go_

 _I'll be your lifeline tonight….."_

A smile crept on Naruto's face. Lying on the bed, on Saturday morning, eyes closed, he continued to listen to his Alarm tone thinking about last night as it brought all the good and the bad feelings in him. Not willing to go deep in those thoughts, he decided to get up.

He had been awake for some time now but kept lying on the bed fooling himself. Kiba and Shika always complain about not being able to 'Sleep in' as they were made to get up and do their house chores.

But he didn't have anyone to wake him up, he didn't have house chores. He still couldn't sleep in as he would always wake up early but deliberately delay everything to keep up his cover. Opening his beautiful cerulean eyes, sitting up and stretching like a cat, he looked at his phone 8:02 AM.

"I wanna Go…, I'll be your lifeline tonight",…humming to himself, he put the kettle for his Coffee. Checking the cabinet for breakfast, he found a few eggs and bread left to make himself a decent breakfast. Next was a trip to the washroom for an urgent nature's call and brushing his teeth.

Naruto was done with his breakfast, laundry and cleaning by noon which was followed by a quick shower. He didn't have much cleaning to do anyway. He had a small apartment on the third floor of an old complex that had a Kitchen portion on the right, rest of the room was used as a hall cum bedroom with an attached washroom. He only had things that he need kied- one bed, a study table, a chair, table lamp and a small cupboard that he bought from his last paycheque. Oh yes, his paycheque. His rent was the only thing that he didn't have to worry as it was paid by his godfather but he needed money to eat and survive. So he worked and was happy working at his favourite Ramen restaurant under a kind old man and his daughter. His job requirements changed according to the need as he could cook, serve and clean. Unlike everyone's assumptions, he wasn't a messy, useless person. He kept his apartment clean, making his bed, cleaning after cooking and eating and throwing trash in the trash can, he did all. That left dusting and laundry for weekends.

"Grrrrrrrowwwwwwl…"Naruto's stomach grumbled loudly announcing its need for input.

Getting irritated on his stomach for demanding food when he was busy doing .. er nothing, he realised that he didn't have anything to prepare his lunch with. "Oh well, time to be a customer at my own employer's". He loved ramen anyway.

Walking to his window grill that had a fenced shelf to hold three potted plants, Naruto watered them, talking to them softly as if they were babies.

"OK little fellas, I gave you your food, I am off to get my own now. So, be good and don't talk to the birds or they will peck your leaves off. I will be a little late, so don't wait up and rest. Ok? See you." with that he locked his door and went off to ' _The Ichiraku's'_.

Old Man Teuchi had known Naruto since he was 2 years old. Just like his mother, he too had a passion for ramen. When Naruto was 5 years old, his parents passed away in a road accident and he was put in an orphanage. Being passed from foster home to foster home, he always had a misfortune of getting parents which were either abusive or ignorant and then he would be sent back to the orphanage. Till date he carried scars on his body and heart to remember how unwanted he was.

But he had a will of fire. He never showed his loneliness and yearning for love, hiding behind a mask of clumsiness, foolishness and fake smiles. When he was 12, his godfather showed up saying he didn't know about his parent's death and adopted him. Naruto didn't trust him, seeing that he was an old pervert who wrote adult novels for a profession and was mostly absent for his so called _research,_ which was nothing but peeping at naked women at bath houses.Being an un responsible godfather, Jiraya Sanin did not pay much attention to what he did. He would sometimes send money and would pay his rent for the apartment without delay which was strange as Naruto rarely saw him. And that was it.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?Did you forget its your off day today? Or did you miss me too much? The feeling is mutual, by the way" flirted Ayame, Teuchi's daughter.

"You know me too well, Aya chan" Naruto smiled back at Ayame who was a couple of years older than him.

"Oh, shut up. I know what you are here for. Two miso ramen coming right up" she laughed.

"And that's why I love you" Naruto winked at her.

She giggled and left for the Kitchen.

After lunch, he went towards his next destination. _Yamanaka Flower shop,_ which was owned and run by Ino's parents.

"Hey Naruto, I will be with you in a moment" Ino said turning towards a women who was looking for a bouquet of Carnations. Like the flowers around her, Ino was a beautiful girl herself. With long waist length blond hair tied in a pony tail and big sky blue eyes, she could be considered Naruto's twin. Her slim figure and natural fashion sense made her quite attractive and popular bringing out her confident and bold nature. Unfortunately, like most of the girls in Konoha she was one of Sasuke's fangirl.

"Sure" Naruto mumbled looking around. With so many flowers around, he felt a flutter of happiness and calm within himself. He loved nature and dreamed of buying a small house with a nice garden one day. At the moment, he could only have his three potted plants.

"Sorry Naruto, so you here for your usual? One Stargazer and three white lilies?"

"Yeah"

"Why does your employer always send you to get these flowers, can't he ask someone who is working today? Isn't it your Off day or something"

Naruto felt bad about lying but he was uncomfortable sharing his private life with people. He instantly sent a mental thank you to Aya chan who agreed to play along with his lie if ever it came to it.

"Hehe, er.. I really don't mind getting them Ino chan, I usually do my lunch there so I offered to get these for them" Naruto said avoiding her eyes.

"You are just dumb to say yes to everything"

"Ino chaaaaaaaaaaaan"

"Stop Whining and get going"…. Naruto paid and walked away waving goodbyes.

He silently made his way to his destination, smiling softly to the beautiful flowers in his hands.

He passed the line of shops into a less populated and richer area. Walking into the locality of rich people made him feel suffocated. There were big mansions with large gates. No giggling children or arguing neighbours, only cold and materialistic beauty. He was happy that he was poor. He passed the Uchiha Mansion, where Sasuke lived with his brother Itachi. Both orphan, just like him yet too different from him. He continued onto a small path through the woods that opened at a Cemetery that was surrounded by trees and wild flowers giving the deceased a comfort of warmth and homeliness. Walking around a couple of headstones, he stopped at a familiar one.

 _In loving memory of_

 _Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze_

 _Love is forever. Till death do us part._

 _A Loving couple and caring parents_

 _1981 to 2005 1979 to 2005_

"Hi Mom, hi dad. Hope you are well. I m sorry I didn't come to see you last week, something came up… I have been going to school and am trying to study. Can't say I am good at it but I promise I will work hard." _'Its not that there is anyone to scold me for my poor grades'_ Outwardly he just smiled sadly at the thought. Kneeling down, he took out a piece of cloth to clean the grave removing the old dried flower.

"Jiraya is being his irresponsible self, the last I saw him, was in June. Its November already, so you know how useless he is. I m Ok though. I have been eating and resting properly, I have friends and I am happy. … I …..I... hope you are happy as well.. I miss you". His smile faded. He placed the fresh white lilies on both of their graves bowing and brought his hands together to pray. "I will see you later mom, dad. Take care, I love you."He waited for couple of seconds and stepped towards another set of headstones.

 _In remembrance of_

 _Mikoto Uchiha and Fugaku Uchiha_

 _Honourable and loving couple and parents_

 _1980 to 2015 1976 to 2015_

"Hello Uchiha san, Miko Chan, Hope you are well" Naruto shyly cleared the grave like the other one and placed the white lily under Fugaku Uchiha's name and the Stargazer under Mikoto Uchiha's name.

"Uchiha san, your sons are doing well. Sasuke is the class representative and is sure to win the student elections, that is if he accepts to. Itachi is managing your business very well and is becoming very famous for his intellect and tact. I am sure you would have been proud."

Looking at Mikoto's name, Naruto smiled and spoke with glistening tearful eyes. "I miss you Miko chan. I brought you your favourite flower. Do you like it?"… Taking a deep breath to avoid spilling his tears, he continued. "I am watching over him as you asked me to. He is fine now and misses you very much, though he tries to hide. You know how stubborn Sasuke can be. Ita ni manages everything so well. He misses you too but he never let it show. You raised them well."

"Miko chan, I want to tell you something…" He whispered softly glancing towards his own parent's grave as if to make sure that he is not loud enough for them to hear.

"I …I don't know if I should be happy or sad, I am so confused. Miko chan,… I think I made a big mistake…."

Closing his eyes and bending his head guiltily.

"I slept with Sasuke." He said barely above a whisper.

Purpledragonoffire: The song at the beginning is called Cold water by Major Lazer. It one of my favourites.

Salutations as per my understanding: Forgive me if I am not accurate.

San: usually used to address people of both genders like Mr/Mrs.

Chan: an affectionate term used for people who are younger than you or for those you are close to.

Ni/Nichan, Nisan: Used to address elder brother.


	3. If you walk with me

Hi all. As promised here is the next chapter. Please review and tell me if you like it or if there is anything I need to work on. Hope I don't disappoint you all. Be safe, Ciao.;)

I don't Own Naruto or any other character.

Hey: Narration

"Hey" : Talking

 _Hey'_ : Thinking

HEY: Shouting

Chapter 3: If you walk with me.

Sasuke had known Naruto since they were small kids. Apparently, their moms were childhood best friends and Naruto's were childhood sweethearts. Naruto's parents moved to Tokyo after high school where they later got married. Minato worked as an architect and Kushina was a happy and content house-wife. They moved back to Konoha with an-year old Naruto due to his work.

Sasuke met Naruto at a dinner to the Uchiha's Manor where Sasuke became instantly attached to the 2-year-old beautiful blond sitting on the floor, playing with a doll. He had scoffed at him for playing with a girl's toy but brought his own GI Joe and played with him. The raven insisted that Naruto call him Nisan as he was older by 4 months and the adorable blond chibi agreed by calling him nichan. Much to everyone's amusement, Sasuke started dragging Naruto everywhere and behaved like an obsessive and possessive bodyguard. By the age of 4, they started playing Itachi's version of Romeo and Juliet where Sasuke was Romeo and Naruto was Juliet. (They did not know the actual version). Sasuke never liked sharing Naruto, even with Itachi and would throw a fit whenever they went out for ice-cream without him.

The Uchiha Mansion was no longer quiet and cold but bright and warm and Mikoto had never felt happier since her marriage with the Uchiha millionaire.

"Mother, why does Kyoko neesan not live with us anymore", chibi Sasuke asked his mother once.

"'Coz, she lives with her husband, dear""

"Huss…bind? Why does she have to live with the huss-bind? Did aniki sell her to him?" the raven boy asked cutely.

Hiding her horror at her baby's words, she asked "why will Itachi sell her to anyone?"

"Because, he said if I disturb him, he will send me away just like Kyoko Neesan". Sasuke said tearfully. Mikoto mentally rolled her eyes and promised herself to have a serious talk with her elder son.

"No, he won't. 'Coz he can't. Kyoko is now married to her ' _husband'_ , she is living with him because she wants to live with him. She chose him as her life partner, her soul mate." Seeing her son hanging on her each word, she continued. "One day you will want to live with someone more than us too. Like…..hmm, I left my parents and married your father?"

"Do I _have_ to leave you to be with my sale mate? I don't mind leaving father and Aniki behind but will I have to leave you too" Sasuke mumbled.

Mikoto laughed at this. "You won't have to. I will always support my baby and come live with you and your ' _soul'_ mate"

"Really?" …. "Then I want Naru chan to be my huss-bind. I will married him too." Sasuke said raising his hands in the air.

"You mean you will _marry_ him. But, does he want to marry you?" Mikoto said playing along.

"Of course, he does. He will have to." Sasuke said stubbornly.

Mikoto let out a deep sigh. ' _oh well_ ' "We will have to let Naru chan decide when he is as tall as Kyoko, OK?"

Sasuke shrugged as if he wasn't worried and happily ran to play with his future 'huss-bind'.

Days were filled with their playful shouts and laughter. Naruto was like sunshine and his laughter made everyone around him smile involuntarily. Both boys spent most of the time together as they went to the same school and would play at each other's place afterwards. Even Itachi loved him like his brother and was very protective of him. They would always end up arguing over him.

Then came the horrible news of Namikaze's death. Naruto's parents were pushed off the road by a drunk truck driver. Luckily, Naruto was with the Uchiha's that evening so he escaped the same fate.

Naruto couldn't understand why his parents were never coming back. He sat at the window waiting for them the entire night, saying that his daddy promised that they will bring him ramen tonight. Sasuke sat with him.

The funeral was held in the next week and Naruto kept telling everyone that his parents were lost but they will come to get him. Sasuke believed every word.

When the authorities came to take him, he lost all his faith and could not stop crying. Sasuke could not bear the sight and cried with him. It was difficult separating them as both were holding each other for dear life. But what would tiny 5-year old's hands do to stop the will of many adults.

Nobody knew how broken hearted Mikoto was at that moment. She tried convincing Fugaku to adopt Naruto but he refused. He was particularly against his younger son's fondness towards the blond boy and thought it will be a hindrance in his grooming.

The Uchiha Mansion was quiet and cold again. Sasuke refused to eat and kept asking for Naruto. The older Uchiha lost his patience and took his son to his study for a serious discussion.

Sasuke had always been afraid of his father but without his mother around his fear ten folded. Fugaku had asked him if he still wanted Naruto back. With hope in his heart, he said yes. The older Uchiha had slapped him so hard that he thought he lost his hearing. Before he could come back to his senses he was slapped again. His face ached and his head started spinning. Hyperventilating with fear, he did not realise that he was sobbing and the tears were choking him. Luckily, Mikoto came in at that moment and saved him. Sasuke was so scared that he never uttered Naruto's name in front of his father again.

Naruto was adopted by the Takahashi's after the incident. They were an old couple who lived in Suna and did not have children of their own. They were nice initially but slowly got fed up with his crying. Gradually, they stopped paying attention to him and hardly spoke to him. He was given his meals and was dropped to school daily. Rest of the time, he was expected to be in his room. After couple of months, he could not take the loneliness and started playing pranks and back answering. Got in a lot of fights and there were complaints from teachers. The Takahashis kept him for almost an year and then sent him back to the orphanage.

He was adopted again by Mrs and Mr Ito who had 3 children of their own. They had adopted him for the allowance only and showed absolutely no interest in taking care of him. He had 2 elder sisters and a younger brother, all of whom acted as if he did not exist. He did not get proper meals or care and often had to sleep hungry. His father would be beat him a lot for back answering and he was most of the time grounded. Even with all of this, they escaped the authorities as they were in good terms with the inspecting officer.

However, they got reported for negligence when a teacher noticed a week old unattended arm injury. It was later confirmed as a broken bone following a particularly harsh physical abuse. Not surprisingly, he was sent back to the orphanage while the Ito couple served their jail time. After a few months he was adopted again. The parents this time, were no better.

By the age of 8, Naruto had accepted his fate. The harsh times made him gain maturity at such a tender age that he learnt to put on a mask to save himself from any physical or emotional pain. He would be obedient and quite at home and loud and naughty outside. But no matter what, he would always be passed from foster homes to foster homes.

He had been living with his 5th foster parents for half a year now, when he was told that they will be moving to Konoha. Hearing the name of the town of happy memories, brought a glimmer of happiness in his heart. But years of abuse and self-doubt crushed any hope of love and freedom.

Naruto walked into the gates of Konoha Elementary School after his foster mother had left him in front of the school with strict instructions to _behave_. After a boring but brief lecture from the school principal, he was ushered off to his class. He entered the class and decided to do what he always did. He smiled like an idiot and yelled "MY NAME IS NARUTO UZUMAKI AND I WILL BE THE GOVERNOR ONE DAY." As expected everyone had judged him as a nuisance and ignored him. Being satisfied with the outcome but pretending to look offended Naruto started blabbering about being friends when he felt eyes on him among his ignoring classmates. He scanned the class and locked his eyes to a familiar pale face and deep onyx pool of eyes.

' _Sasu chan'_

Naruto felt warmth in his heart and a genuine smile come on his face. " _I will always take care of you"._ Naruto remembered Sasu chan's words.

But the next moment broke his heart. Sasuke turned his face and stared out of the window. _'This is not my Sasu chan.'_ Naruto thought with sadness creeping back in him. But then he smiled with determination …. ' _I will get my Sasu Chan back '._

Then started a routine of Naruto chasing and irritating Sasuke and Sasuke ignoring him.

Sasuke was having a foul mood. Not that it was new. After his Naru-chan was taken from him, he had lost interest in anything which was remotely related to fun. Naruto's presence gave him a feeling of content, a feeling that he could live anywhere and anyhow with him, that maybe, he would _want_ other things but he already has what he _needed_. But with him gone, he was lost. He desperately tried to find something to give him a feeling of worth and decided It would be 'his father's acknowledment'. Sasuke's grades were the best in his class, but not better than Itachi's. He could play guitar, piano and violin, though, Itachi could play guitar, piano, violin, cello and saxophone. Sasuke was one of the best martial artist at his age but Itachi had a better record. Working harder to gain his father's approval, Sasuke never did anything to offend him. He was quiet, obedient and learnt to put an emotionless face. His father was satisfied with his dedication and kept rubbing his _correct decision_ in his wife's face.

Then he saw him at school. Sunshine blond hair, beautiful cerulean eyes, golden tan face. ' _Naru Chan'_

Joy filled his cold heart and he yearned to pull Naruto in a hug. But, dread replaced the joy when he heard his loud voice and saw his overly bright smile.

' _Did you not miss me Naru chan? Was I the only one effected? Are you happy even without me?'_

He felt cold and empty again, ' _I will never want you again,Naru Chan_ '.

Even in deniel, deep in his heart he felt happy to see his sunshine back.

After 6 months, Naruto was admitted in the hospital for family abuse. His foster father had taken out his frustration from work by beating Naruto while being drunk. He had carved whiskers on his face blaming him for his misfortune and calling him a demon.

Sasuke never visited Naruto once in the entire month he was admitted. This time, his loneliness was more painful as he missed his Sasu-chan more than ever. He was sent back to the orphanage after his discharge.

He was adopted by the Taka's and had stayed at home for a week now. Monday morning, holding his bag on one shoulder, he quietly said his goodbyes to his new parents and walked out of the house for school.

Around the corner, he saw someone standing with their school bag on their back. Recognizing his own school uniform, he quickened his pace. It was Sasuke.

"Sasuke? what are you doing here? Don't you live, ..like..., on the other side of the school?"

Sasuke tilted his head to give him a discreet once over for all the injuries on his face and arms.

"Hn." Replied Sasuke.

"…Hn?" Naruto asked with a blank face.

"Let's go, we are getting late" He said walking towards the school.

"Hey, wait up." He said rushing after Sasuke. As expected, they argued and name called each other all the way.

Naruto was passed to 2 more foster homes before he was finally adopted by Jiraya. Surprisingly, both foster homes were in Konoha… Mikoto made sure of it.

But,…

Sasuke was always there, every day, waiting for him around the corner, to walk with him to the school. No matter where Naruto lived.

Naruto realised that he would happily walk to his death if Sasuke was there to walk him there.


	4. Himawari

Hi guys, I am extremely sorry I am late again. I had what most writers call an author's BLOCK. Its kind of funny though. I was stuck coz I had too many things in my mind but didn't know what to write first. I ended up writing two half chapters. And before I could focus on one of the chapters, I caught a cold. Like seriously, this month has been a sick month for me. Well, anyways. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I m working on two more chapter and will post as soon as I can. Please review.

Warning: Light swearing as usual. Light yaoi/ sexual contents. Don't like don't read.

I don't own Naruto or any other character in the fic.

Hello: Narration

"Hello": Talking

' _hello':_ thinking

 _Hello : _flashback

Situated at the corner of Konoha, The Uchiha property included the Mansion itself and half a mile radius around it. Built almost three centuries ago, the Mansion had been the home of all the Uchiha clan heads including the current clan-head. Fugaku Uchiha was a business tycoon with companies spread out all over the world. Their business included pharmaceuticals and electronics and they were not behind in hospitals and hotels as well. Despite their high social status and wealthy background, he liked to keep his family traditions and honour as their number one priority.

The inside of the Mansion was as grand as the outside. After stepping in, one could see a large hallway. Pictures of the Uchiha family and their ancestors adorn the royal blue coloured walls. The ceiling was a beautiful cream coloured and crown moulded with a chandelier hanging in the centre. The seating area had large brown coloured leather couches and a centre table. There were five doors connected to this hall. One door lead to Mikoto's private garden, another one lead to the Kitchen and the third one to the servant rooms. The fourth door opened to the swimming pool with the gym while the last door lead to a path way towards the forest. Two flights of curved marble staircase matching the pure white marble flooring connected to the floor above. There were 28 rooms upstairs not including the library and the study and each room had a theme and a bathroom of its own. One of the grand rooms on the upper floor was Itachi Uchiha's.

Itachi had always been a light sleeper. Even whispering outside his bedroom door could wake him up. So, the loud bang of the shutting of a car door outside the mansion was enough to make him sit up with wide alert eyes. Narrowing his eyes, he checked the time,00: 41.

At one look, you would say that both the brothers are twins. Despite their similar porcelain face, smooth and soft skin and sharp features, there were two basic differences. While Sasuke had a peculiar short hair style, Itachi had straight waist length hair which he carried in a low pony tail. The other was that Itachi had deep stress lines running down his face from the inner edge of his eyes going outwardly towards his cheek stopping midway. These features made him look cooler and dangerous at the same time.

Hating to get out of his warm bed in the cold November night, he walked to his window and looked out of the curtains. There, on the mansion's driveway, was _his_ BMW, with Sasuke kneeling in front of the passenger door with his palms on the ground supporting himslf.

Mr Rosewood, one of their many housekeepers, was walking towards him to help him stand up.

"Foolish little brother". He whispered disapprovingly, walking back to his bed.

Sasuke was finding it extremely difficult to climb the stairs with his unstable steps. He refused to acknowledge the fact that there was a lift installed for such purposes. 5 years ago, his father had reluctantly gotten it installed as his mother suffered from a back ache and despite being serviced regularly, the lift has not been used in the past two years.

Finally, making to his room, Sasuke fell face-down on his bed. Never in his life had he felt so anxious and angry and he did not know how to deal with these feelings. As an Uchiha, he had always been sure of his actions and needs. That's what his father had taught him.

' _Knowledge, Power, Pride and Honour are the only goals that exist for an Uchiha. There is no place for emotions as it causes one's downfall'_

He had always focused on these four and his father had always approved of his actions. But now, he was so confused. His logic said that he should be angry at the situation, at the turn of events, _at what happened._ Instead, he felt as if it was no big deal, as if it was to be expected, as if it was normal.

 _'How, in the world was it OK to have sex with Naruto.'_

"Okaasan, what should I do" He mumbled with his eyes closed.

His head hurt and he was not sure if it was because of the hangover or because of all the thinking. Soon, the sun was up, but he continued pretending to sleep.

'Knock Knock'.

There was a knock on the door, a second later Itachi walked in with a glass of juice, a sandwich and two aspirins.

Feeling a dip in the bed on his left side, he knew his brother has decided to bother him with useless preaching.

Itachi placed the tray on the bedside table, nudging his brother to wake him up.

"I know you are awake. otouto. I brought you some breakfast and medicine, for if you have a headache. After all… it was your first time"

Sasuke stiffened. Peering to look at his brother indifferently, he said "What are you talking about" _'does he know about Naruto and I?'_

"Well, it was the first time you _drank_ , right? … or was it the ' _other first time_ ' for you?" Itachi smirked.

"Leave me alone Aniki." Sasuke said getting irritated, getting up and walking towards the bathroom.

"I'm leaving you alone for now, little brother. But don't think this conversation is over. You and I need to have a serious talk about yesterday." was Itachi's stern reply.

Sasuke turned around, he shot angrily "About what? About behaving recklessly? About what people will say or think? About sullying Uchiha family's name?"

"No. About not telling me where you were. About not sharing your problems with me. About making me worry about you. About disappointing me". Saying this, he stood up.

"As an Uchiha, it's our duty to keep the reputation of our family as best. But, that is not the only thing. Apart from being an Uchiha, we are brothers. All we have as a family is each other. I don't know if you care what happens to me….. but I do." He turned and started walking only to stop near the door.

"..because you are my little brother and I will always love you" With this he walked out, closing the door behind him.

Sasuke was shocked. His brother had always seemed a perfect, unreachable and unemotional person. Knowing that he was worried about him made him feel a little less lonely and little happier. _'Maybe there is hope for me to be like Aniki one day.'_ With these thoughts calming his jittery nerves, he went for his long due bath.

The entire weekend, Sasuke kept worrying about his interaction with Naruto the next day. He was nervous and he had hardly slept in the past two days. Not to mention the drilling and scolding session he got from Itachi.

The next morning came sooner than he wanted. For the first time in so many years, Sasuke was considering going to school alone. But no matter how hard he tried, he could not find the nerve to ask the chauffeur to take him to the school instead of Naruto's house. He slowly stepped out of the car at Naruto's locality and nervously waited near the corner for Naruto. Suddenly, he felt some one jump on his back startling him. He turned around in anger and found his blond friend laughing, holding his stomach.

" Shoulda look at your face, you got scarrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeed"

"What the hell, Dobe! I am leaving you next time you do that" Sasuke shouted and started walking towards the school.

"Hey, it's not my fault that you zoned out. You looked so funny. As if you had an itch on your butt but you cannot scratch it 'coz you are an _Uchiha_ " Naruto made a funny face saying that while rushing after him.

"Keep talking like that and you won't even have fingers to scratch _your_ itch" Sasuke sped up.

"Then I will ask you to scratch it for me"

"Yeah? And why will I?"

…..and they walked all the way arguing and hitting each other as usual. Sasuke did not even realize when they reached school and how the entire day went by without events… atleast as eventless as it could be.

It was not before he reached home, did he realise that there was no awkwardness or hesitation that he felt with Naruto, even now.

He was OK, Naruto was OK. _They_ were OK

That night was similar to the previous two nights. Now that he was not worried of losin….. er he meant making things awkward with the blonde duffer, he actually thought about what happened on Friday. He started with the events that led to the ' _event in the bed_ ' but the majority of the night was spent in reliving each moment of the ' _event'_. Finally, he succumbed to dreamless sleep in the early hours of the next day.

By Tuesday afternoon, Sasuke felt like killing someone. Not only Sakura and Ino had followed him to his waiting place after school, they had refused to leave him alone. Sasuke swore if the dobe was even a Minute late after his detention, he will kill at least one of the three. He decided it would be Sakura as everyone knew Naruto has a crush one her. Seriously, what was so good in her. Agreed that she is pretty and smart but she is too violent for his taste.

"Hey Teme, thanks for waiting. Oh.. Sakura chaaaan, are you here to ask me out on a date" Naruto asked wiggling his eyebrows playfully.

"As if. Who would want to date an idiot like you. We were keeping Sasuke-kun company as he has to wait for your useless ass everyday here. You should be grateful, you know" Sakura scoffed.

"Hey. Its not my fault. I tried to explain….."

"Leave it, Dobe. I am tired, let's go." Sasuke said shaking his arms off of the rabid fan girl's hold and walking towards the school exit.

"Bye Sasuke-kun" Sakura and Ino said dreamily.

Sasuke ignored them but Naruto waved at them.

Sasuke was quite the entire way to Naruto's house, not that it made any difference to Naruto. He kept both end of the conversation and laughed at his own jokes. Finally, they reached the area of lower middle-class people. The buildings were old and crowded, the road became narrower, there were children playing on the streets and very few trees or plants to be seen. It was too noisy for Sasuke's taste, but he followed Naruto to his apartment building.

Stopping at the steps, Naruto turned around and said "Thanks for the company, do you want me to wait till your chauffeur comes to pick you?"

"No, I am staying over." Saying that Sasuke started climbing the stairs.

"What?" Naruto was dumbfounded but followed Sasuke upstairs to his apartment.

Sasuke walked in couple of steps inside and stopped staring at his apartment. It was how he had seen it last time. Well kept, leaving the few clothes lying on his bed.

Naruto walked in front of him hesitatingly and asked "Ehmm.. Sasuke, er… should I get you something to d…" Before he could finish, Sasuke had grabbed him close with his collars and smashed theirs lips together.

Naruto held Sasuke's shoulders and pushed him a little so that their lips were separated but they were still face to face.

"Sasuke?... What are you doing.?" Naruto whispered holding Sasuke still, staring up at his deep black eyes.

"…. You don't want this?" Sasuke said with anger evident in his eyes.

"No….. I mean yes. But shouldn't we.. I mean talk before we go ahead. I mean are you OK with us being…" Sasuke was too irritated and interrupted him.

"… what is there to discuss, you want me and I want you. And I am not interested in wasting time on useless talks? Now, you tell me do you want this or not?"

Naruto was at a loss of words."….. I …. I…" he lowered his gaze to Sasuke's nose and then to his slightly swollen red lips…. " … yes" he whispered. As soon as the words were out of his mouth. Sasuke took control. He pressed his lips to Naruto's again, with one hand placed at the back of his neck and the other around his waist to hold him close. Feeling soft silky hair under his palm, he thought _'his hair has grown'._

He slowly licked Naruto's lips asking of entrance which was immediately granted. Sasuke did not waste a second in deepening the kiss. Moaning in pleasure he pushed Naruto back until both of them fell on his bed, stopping to look at Naruto's slightly dishevelled form on the dark green bed sheets. His white school dress shirt was untucked and crumpled. His hair was spread out on around his head giving a hallo look. His tan face had a red hue on it and his bright blue eyes had evident lust in them. Pink swollen lips were parted and he was panting a little. Everything else became blur for Sasuke. He felt so hot and so cold all at once. Clothes were pulled off, torn off, thrown off, he didn't care. He just wanted to let go of all his frustration and anger and feel this moment where he was a winner, a ruler and nothing was stopping him to express. He just wanted to feel. It was flowing like hot molten lava in his body. His hands were everywhere, touching, grabbing, feeling and scratching. Pleasure and release was the only thing he cared to feel.

When he finally came down from his high, panting and tired, he pushed himself to the side to lie down on Naruto's left feeling his eyes droop in exhausion. In the semi-conscious state, he looked to the side at Naruto who was trying to keep as quite possible but failing to control his panting and exhaustion. His golden hair was sticking to his forehead, temples and ears like thick long grass. Sweat glistened over his tan round face, pink lips parted to ease his panting. Sasuke allowed himself to release a tiny smile as it reminded him of something of a long time ago. He closed his eyes feeling exhaustion taking over him.

 _"Oh stop brooding darling. Come here and help Naru chan with that plant" Mikoto laughed looking at Sasuke who was sitting near the potted plants with a scowl on his face._

 _"But I don't want to. Cant we go and play Naru chan." Chibi Sasuke asked chibi Naruto with a puppy face._

 _"But Miko chan said that baby plant will die if we weave her like this. We putting her in pot with mud and wata. Then she shweep and grow up biiiiiig tree" Chibi Naruto said in a cute baby voice. Mikoto laughed on his cuteness._

 _"This will not grow big Naru-chan. She will be as big as you, 'coz she is just like you."_

 _"Like me?" chibi Naruto asked tilting his head to the right._

 _"Yes, like you. She is a sunflower that follows her sun around. Like how you follow your sun around. Now,you go and play with Sasu-chan and come see her tomorrow. OK?"_

 _"Ok…. Wait, what is plant chan's name?"_

 _Mikoto smiled and said "Himawari"_

 _"Bye bye Hima chan, I will see you tomorrow" Chibi Naruto waved cheerfully and rushed towards Sasuke"_

"He is like Himawari" mumbled sleepily almost in a passed-out state feeling fingers brushing his hair on the forehead.

Just before he fell in the pits of deep sleep, he heard something, but was sure that his mind was playing tricks on him.

After all there was no way Naruto would have whispered "Ai shite iru" to him. Would he?'

Otouto: Little brother

Teme:rude way of saying "You"

Dobe: deadlast, loser

Himawari: Sunflower

Ai shite iru: I love you


	5. I know you like them

***I Dont own Naruto***

5 days ago : 11th Nov 11:58 am.

"….can you believe that? And when I asked him, he said that Guy sensei made him some kind of youthful crap oil to make his hair look like that. And I am like, there is noooooo way it can make his hair so shiny. And you know what I know, Sasuke?" Naruto continued with his unnecessary chatting during their break.

"Sasuke?"

"….. what?"

"You are not listeniiiiiiiiiiiigggg" he whined.

"Dobe, I have absolutely no interest as to why Lee's hair is sooooo shiny. For all I care, he must be applying shoe polish to make it look like that. Now, what I really want to know is, what is that thing doing here on our table?" growled Sasuke pointing his finger rudely to the blob of red hair on the other side of Naruto. The said blob turned and cold green eyes glared menacingly towards Sasuke.

"You want to say something to me, Uchiha?" sneered Gaara.

"Hush, teme! Don't be rude. I told Gaa chan to come have lunch with us. Friends should stick together, you know." Trying to break the glaring match between his two friends.

"Friends? If I am not forgetting, he broke your nose last week. Then you got 2 weeks of detention for which, you ungratefully make me wait for. How the hell is he 'OUR' friend? And didn't I tell you to stop your friend hunting when you asked to make friends with that werewolf."

"It was Mr Big Ass, not werewolf. And you can't be serious. Gaa chan is so nice and cute. He won't bother anyone."

"Nice?. Do you even hear yourself? Look how freaked out everyone is. We always pull two tables together to adjust all these animals. Now, because of this raccoon, they had pulled two more tables. All because no one is willing to sit next to him. There is so much space betweem them and him that I CAN LAND A FREAKING PLAN THERE. AND I HATE THAT OUR TABLE LOOKS LIKE A RUN-AWAY TRAIN. SO, PARDEN ME IF I AM A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT THIS ARRANGEMENT." Sasuke had stood up, yelling and panting by the end of his speech.

Naruto gulped and scratched the back of his hair. "Ano, I don't know why this is a big deal. … Gaachan is…"

"That's enough." Gaara stood up with his half-eaten lunch tray.

"I was not interested in sitting here in the first place. Too noisy for me. I am going back to the class, Uzumaki"

"Gaachan, I…." Naruto started but he interrupted him still looking at the raven.

"Uchiha. I don't care whether you like me or not. Trust me, the feeling is mutual. So, you can continue your tirade with your kitty party here. And Uzumaki…." Gaara looked at the blond-haired boy.

"…. don't call me Gaachan. Goodbye" with this Gaara walked away. As soon as Gaara was out of sight, everyone started scolding Naruto.

"Are you crazy? Why did you bring him to our table? That guy has broken more bones than he has even cared to count. Not to forget his family is filthy rich, so no one complains against him. My dad says they work with the yakuza. I don't know about you, but I really want to live couple of more years.."Kiba yelled at Naruto.

Sasuke stared at his omelette rolls and pieces of cherry tomatoes littered over them. He never understood how Naruto even managed to befriend that creep. The guy was dangerous, Sasuke could feel it but that's not what bothered him.

Gaara had hit Naruto and Naruto had bled. No one understood what happened. Apparently, Naruto had seeked Gaara out and he did not like the disturbance, which resulted in a fight. None of the lunch group member were there and kids who were there, were too scared to say a single word. Naruto took the blame and ended up with two weeks detention. But what surprised everyone was that Naruto had gone to Gaara the next morning and _hugged_ him and Gaara had not retaliated. He just froze but did not hit or push Naruto back. Naruto did that every day since then. Even his glares were different. Gaara would always glare at everyone. It is mostly "I 'll kill you if you even look at me" glare. He glared at Naruto too, but it was more like "I don't like what you are doing, but I 'll tolerate it" glare.

"Ew Naruto, would you stop moving your left-over food to Sasuke's plate. Do you not have any manners." Ino screeched.

"Ino chan, why do you always yell at me. … you are so pretty and if you yell at me, other pretty girls will yell at me toooooo.." Naruto mock wailed and started rolling on the ground like a small kid.

Ino rolled his eyes "Hah, as if it will make any difference. But you are right. I am pretty" She said blinking her eyes flirtingly towards Sasuke.

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'donkey praises its tail'" Sakura started another set of argument with Ino.

Sasuke ignored them as usual and looked at Naruto who was smuggling pieces of tomatoes to his plate.

"If you don't like them, why don't you tell the vendor to leave the salad out of your meal." Sasuke asked his blond-haired friend.

"Because I know you like them." Naruto gave a closed eye smile and started a conversation with Sakura to stop their argument.

His response made him stop all his movement. He continued looking at his chattering friend but he heard nothing.

 _Little Sasuke was sitting near the window of his room. His father had ordered 'no dinner' for him as he got an A- in his Maths test. 'Knock Knock'_

 _Mikoto walked in and sat next to the 10 yr old boy. She placed a plate full of pickled cherry tomatoes on his lap. He looked at his mother questioningly._

 _"What? this is not dinner. Is it?" She kissed him on the cheek and ruffled his hair. "Come on, don't wait up. I know you like them."_

Sasuke felt a prickle of tears in his eyes. Swallowing deeply, he stood up and left the table.

Suddnly, the second half of the day became worse than the first half. Naruto kept arguing with him over unnecessary things. He would shout, throw paper balls, argue, pinch and make faces at him every now and then. Sasuke could not understand why he was behaving like this. He got so irritated that he punched the blond in the stomach in the middle of the class. Naruto tried throwing a kick which Sasuke easily caught. Before the fight could proceed any further, the teacher separated them and sent them to the Principal's office. Naruto apologised there taking the blame _again_ but started yelling at Sasuke after coming out of the Principal's office.

"If you uttered another word from that garbage bag of yours, I swear I will break your neck… You know what? you are going home alone today, you fucker." Sasuke yelled at Naruto

"Go to hell, bastard" Naruto shouted at Sasuke's retreating form.

Sasuke was so angry that he did not even wait for the classes to end. He just walked out of the school. His mind was in a chaos. He wanted to shout, hit, stab, kill, do anything to take out this fury in him. He started running with tears clouding his vision. Mind flashing different memories of his childhood.

 _His mother making him wear a sweater because it was cold_

 _His father approving looks towards his trophy which he won at the inter school swimming competition._

 _His mother singing his favourite lullaby because he couldn't sleep._

 _Him giggling with Itachi pushing him on the swings._

Out of breath, he stopped near a tree and bent down to hold his knees. His face was wet with tears and his mind was jumbled with thoughts. He looked up and realised that he was standing near the gates of the Konoha Cemetery.

He stood there staring at the gates for several minutes. Taking a deep breath, he wiped his face clean and walked slowly towards his parents' grave.

He stood in front of them with his face down. 'Emotions are a cause of one's downfall'. Blinking several times to make sure that the tears don't escape his eyes, he brought his hands together and prayed.

After several moments, he looked up and bowed towards his father's grave.

Turning towards his mother's grave, he bowed with eyes tightly shut. He opened his mouth to say something but couldn't think of anything.

Unable to contain his emotions, he abruptly turned and walked towards the exit of the graveyard.

Stopping outside the Cemetery gates, he looked at the dark shady clouds. The cold breeze was making him shiver a little.

"I miss you, mother." He whispered.

When he was out of sight, a figure stepped out of the bushes behind the Uchiha's graves.

The 17-year-old blond walked towards Mikoto Uchiha's grave with his own bag on his shoulders and Sasuke's bag hanging from his right hand.

"He came to see you Fugaku san, Miko chan. He couldn't say….. but he loves you. So, keep watching him from heaven." Saying this, he bowed towards both of them and walked out himself.

 _15-year-old Sasuke got down from the car after coming from school. He saw police cars parked in front of the Mansion. Feeling a dread passing over him, he rushed inside the house. His brother was sitting on one of the chairs with both of his hands covering his face looking downwards. There were three police officers standing next to him talking softly._

 _"What's going on, Aniki? Why are these people here?"_

 _Itachi looked up and Sasuke was shocked to see his brother's bloodshot eyes. His face was blotched with tears. He stood up and rushed towards Sasuke._

 _"Otouto, go to your room and stay there. I will come up and talk to you"_

 _"What's wrong, Aniki? Why are you crying? Where is mother and father?" Sasuke was panicking now._

 _"Sasuke, please go"_

 _"No. First tell me. What's going on"_

 _"Sasuke…"_

 _Sasuke ignored him and walked up to the police officers watching them._

 _"Hey mister. Could you please tell me, why you are here?"_

 _"Erm….. Sasuke-kun.." One of police officers started but looked at Itachi for permission to speak. When Itachi continued to look at his feet and didn't say anything, he continued._

 _"… we got a call about gunshots at Hotel Lakeview. Apparently, one of your parent's clients was not happy with a business deal and ….. had shot your parents while they were having lunch there. … " looking at the frozen boy, he slowly continued "they were shot multiple times in the chest…. By the time help could reach them, they were already … erm… dead. I m sorry" He said softly._

 _"This cant be true, you are mistaken. They can't be dead" Sasuke's eyes were wet with tears but he kept muttering._

 _"Sasuke." Itachi came up to Sasuke and held his shoulder. But Sasuke kept shaking his head. "Sasuke" Itachi tried again_

"Sasuke" Itachi was shaking him.

"Sasuke, wake up" Sasuke heard Itachi's voice. He slowly opened his eyes to see Itachi's concerned face infront of him. He realised that he had fallen asleep on a chair in the garden facing the beautiful flowers. It was already dark outside.

"Wha…!" Sasuke mumbled. Itachi stood up and covered Sasuke with a blanket.

"Let's go inside, Otouto. It's really cold here" Saying this Itachi walked towards the door.

"Hn" Sasuke answered. He stood up while holding the blanket close and walked inside the Mansion.

After Sasuke had gone up to his room, Itachi picked up his phone.

"Thanks for bringing his bag. Don't worry, he is fine" Itachi said glancing up towards the staircase.

 **Purpledragonoffire:** This chapter is the starting of the events that led to their first time ' '.;) The next chapter will be a continuation of this chapter and I may be a little late in posting as I have some urgent matters to finish. So, please forgive me. Hope, you like the story so far. Take care.


	6. Let me heal you

Hi all, I know its late and I am sorry again. By now you must have realised that English isn't my first language. Please forgive me for all the grammatical and sentence mistakes. Hope you like it

'I don't own any character in this fic'

"…is the forty sixth turn. The rest of the rounds should be done on your toes. Remember you need to keep your entire body straight and your hands lifted above your head. Next you can….."

Gaara continued to munch his sandwich silently with a blank face. The dark-haired radish sitting next to him has been getting on his nerves from the past 20 mins. He had been told about 20 exercises to avoid constipation, 15 to stop hair loss and 32 for strong thighs. He had no idea what gave him the impression that he needs to know them.

Being a son of a billionaire business man, Gaara was imagined to be a happy and pampered child. But that was not the case.

Even with an arranged marriage, Gaara's mother Karura tried to be a loving and caring wife. But, his father Rasa was an ambitious man with no interest in feelings. After the birth of their two children, Temari in the first and Kankuro in the fourth year of their marriage, Rasa found no reason to even pretend to care about them. When Gaara was conceived, Karura thought this could be her chance to save her marriage. But Rasa was furious and immediately told his wife to abort the child. Despite all the arguments, Gaara was born. When he made it clear that he would not partake in any fatherhood responsibilities, her hopes of happiness were crushed. Falling in depression, Karura chose to die but not before leaving all her life savings, property and named business to the 8-month-old. Rasa was maddened by her nerve to defy him and bring shame to his family.

Blaming the new born for the bad publicity and additional headache, he continued to focus on his business and treated his two childern as his heirs while Gaara became a furniture in the house. Meals in his room, home-schooling and only necessary contact made his days while silence covered his nights. It was harder for the little boy as he strongly believed in the monsters of the dark. But nobody heard his silent pleas. 9-year-old Temari would sometime come to see the pitiful boy but the 2-year-would just stare at her indifferently. The blond-haired girl felt really bad for the small boy but was too scared to do anything about it. Fortunately for him, Rasa got fed up with the reluctant attitude of his home staff and children and sent him to live with his maternal uncle in Suna. He was 8 yrs old then.

Yashamaru was a kind man and a COO of a Construction business in the Suna City. His heart broke when he saw that the little boy was too scared to even react to his friendly and caring staff. He truly cared about Gaara and was the one who told him that his name is Gaara and not "that thing".

The quiet and easily scared Gaara found it extremely difficult to settle in the new life style. For him glares and curses were normal, smiles and hugs were not. He always thought that this will change any second. But his uncle did not give up. He would lure the shy boy to come out of his room and eat meals with him, would take him to walk in the garden and watch movies with him.

It took 2 years to finally break through his thick walls.

 _One winter evening, Yashamaru had a late meeting and was not able to come home until 11:30pm Thoroughly exhausted, he decided to go to bed after saying a quite goodnight to his little nephew. He was surprised to find the boy sitting quietly on the couch in the TV room. Walking slowly, so as not to startle the shy boy, Yashamaru went to take a seat next to his nephew._

 _"Goodevening Gaara-kun." He smiled softly._

 _Gaara turned his head towards his uncle but did not raise his head to look at him, nor did he reply._

 _"Why are you sitting here alone?"_

 _Silence._

 _Knowing that he will not get any response from the younger boy, he stood up and ruffled Gaara's hair._

 _"It's cold in here. Come, let's get to bed." He turned to walk toward the door but stopped when he felt a small hand gripping his trousers. Startled, he turned to look at the hand and then to the owner of the hand. Gaara still had his head bent but he slowly let go his uncle's trousers._

 _"…..Gaara-kun?" Yashamaru asked softly._

 _"I….. m…. hungry." Gaara whispered._

 _Yashamaru had never felt so happy in his life. Forcing himself to not to ask him to repeat, he answered softly._

 _"Really? …..So am I. What do you want to eat?"_

 _"… b..bread" another whisper._

 _"Bread, it is then. Should we make it a sandwitch?"_

 _With his eyes still glued to the floor, Gaara slowly nodded._

 _Yashamaru smiled happily at this accomplishment and went to make sandwiches for both of them. Gaara, finally, decided to put a little trust in his uncle and Yashamaru was able to make up for all the times he let his sister down. From that day, Gaara started to live life little by little._

 _But his fate did not agree to his happiness for long. A year later, Gaara was kidnapped._

 _As Gaara started to go out and spoke little by little, some people found out about him. Though, he would hold hands with his uncle only, he stopped avoiding other people in general. On his 11th Birthday, Yashamaru suggested that Temari gift him a puppy. Gaara showed no reaction towards the little pug. He did stare at the puppy in the basket for a minute but then continued to look at other gifts. Yashamaru was a little disappointed with his lack of reaction but he convinced himself to look for other ways._

 _Gaara continued to be home-schooled and spent time in the house. Strangely, the pug took a liking to the boy and would always play around him. Gaara would sometime stare at the playing pup but wouldn't touch him. The pug was now 5 months old and was called the "Pup" as Yashamaru was still waiting for Gaara to name his pet._

 _Gaara had gone to the city park with his caretakers and 'the pup'. The driver and the guards sat at a nearby wooden bench while Gaara played in the sand box. The caretaker called Gaara to come back as it was becoming dark and the park was mostly deserted now. All of a sudden, there were loud gun shots. Shocked and scared, Gaara and his caretaker turned and saw the guards and the driver slumped on the bench with a bullet straight through their foreheads. The driver, who had smiled and ruffled Gaara's hair before he drove him here. The guards, who had told him to enjoy and leave the worries to them. Gaara felt needles piercing his heart and he blinked rapidly trying to understand this emotion. The caretaker picked up Gaara and ran towards the other direction with the pup on their heels. While being carried, Gaara saw a group of 5 men, cladded in black running after them with guns in their hand. There were a couple of more shots and he felt the caretaker jerk and both of them were thrown forward with force. Getting up, he noticed that his caretaker had gotten shot in the back and leg. He tried to help the fallen man up but he seemed to be in a semi-conscious state._

 _"…Hora san? Hora san… get up….. they are coming." He called softly and shook the injured man. The next instant, he felt himself being picked up roughly and thrown over a tall guy's shoulder. The guy carrying him turned and started walking towards the gate, the pup still barking and following them. Gaara looked back at the injured man lying on the ground. He was breathing shallowly and there was another black cladded man standing over him. Gaara felt dread pass over him, when the man lifted his gun again and aimed at the injured caretaker's chest._

 _'Bang'. Hora's body jerked and then it was still._

 _Gaara kept looking at them. The four guys then started following the man carrying Gaara. Shocked and scared Gaara did not struggle and kept looking at the barking pup following them. Though, he was quiet, there was only one thing he kept repeating in his mind._

 _'Go away, Pup. Don't follow.'_

 _'Go away'_

 _'Please go away'_

 _They reached a black van parked outside the garden and threw Gaara in the back seat. Two guys got into the vehicle after him but the fourth guy stopped while climbing in as the pup had clenched his jaw on one of his pant legs. The man raised his hand, carrying the gun. Gaara's eyes widened._

 _'No…no…. stop.' But nothing came out of his mouth._

 _"Bang" and then there was silence._

"…ku san?... Subaku San?... are you Ok?..."

Gaara blinked his eyes rapidly to get rid of the dizziness he felt. His body was shaking and he could feel cold sweat running down his forehead. Finally, focusing his eyes on his right, his green eyes met concerned black eyes of the chatterbox.

"Are you feeling alright, Subaku san? You seemed very unyouthful all of a sudden." Rock lee asked.

"Aah. That's more like it. You gave me a scare for a second there."

Gaara closed his eyes to save them from the over bright smile of his tormentor. Rock lee was a peculiar young man. Everything about him was strange. From the way he looked, dressed, talk, act or think. With his round face, round eyes and bowl cut jet black hair, nobody considered him as good looking at all. Not to mention, his attire which consisted of a green jumpsuit and orange legwarmers. He would wear this every day to school and never got in trouble for not wearing the school uniform. Maybe due to the fact that it was exactly the same attire their PE teacher wore every day.

He did not know why did he even agreed to sit with them. On the other hand, maybe did. He looked at the distracted blond sitting next to him.

Because someone had decided that Gaara is his pal and would not leave him alone. Even when Gaara had lost his temper and punched him, the blond had welcomed him with open arms.

It was annoying. But it also scared him.

The blond reminded him of the small annoying puppy that followed him everywhere. No matter how much he would ignore him, hit him, hate him…. He would still be there. And that's what led him to his death.

He turned his face and stared at his empty tray. His heart felt heavy and cold with stabs of regret and sorrow. 'Will these wounds ever heal?'

 _Gaara had always been good at judging people. He would classify people in two categories- Threat and Waste. From the first day he had classified Naruto as a 'Waste' and his raven companion a 'Threat'._

 _Usually, the Waste would run away from him with a single glare and the 'Threat' would try to one up him and bother him. Gaara would wait for them to start a fight and then he would break all hell lose._

 _Surprisingly, here the case was different. The threat usually observed him from distance and the waste kept following him everywhere. Even his deadliest glares were useless in front of the blond duffer and Gaara lost his temper after a week of persistent nagging._

 _Naruto had followed him at his usual napping place and kept asking him to join them for lunch. Gaara couldn't take this anymore and punched him on the nose. With blow that big, Naruto fell to the ground cringing with pain and blood rushing down from his broken nose. The few students who saw this, got scared and ran away. But, instead of running away like them, the blond stood up and walked towards Gaara. Gaara lifted his fist again, but Naruto dodged it. When he tried again, instead of dodging the fists, he deflected each one of his blows with his forearms. Gaara did not even noticed that he had taken several steps back. Stopping for a moment, he realised that Naruto's entire stance has changed. Standing a couple of steps away with both arms raised, hands loosely curled inwards, right arm a little straighter than the other, left foot placed a foot behind the other, he displayed a perfect defence stance. Even with half his face covered in blood, he did not look an inch in pain._

 _Gaara could not believe it. So, this Waste was actually a threat. Narrowing his eyes, Gaara rushed towards the blond. But before he could come close, a powerful round house kick to stomach threw him to the ground. His breath left him for a couple of seconds and he could see black dots everywhere. Before his vision cleared, he was picked up with the collar and made to lean on a tree trunk. He realised that both his wrists were in strong grips of the shorter male standing in front of him on his sides. Finding himself in this situation was something that he had never imagined. It was strange and unbelievable. Gaara was taller, healthier and fiercer than the young man standing infront of him._

 _He kept struggling to get free but his body felt strange, as if all energy had left him, he was tired and confused. Having to go through this feeling of inability made him anxious and scared._

 _A second later, his captor had pulled him close with his chin resting on Gaara's shoulder and the blond's arms around him holding his wrists behind his back_ _. Naruto was hugging him while holding his wrists tight._

 _"You are wrong" Naruto whispered._

 _"Staying away may save you from more pain, but it will not heal the wounds that are already there."_

 _Gaara was stunned with such a remark and started struggling again but Naruto continued._

 _"Life was unfair when you were helpless, but now…..you are not helpless… don't be unfair to yourself. Stop hurting yourself. Give yourself a chance." Gaara stilled at this._

 _Naruto slowly let go of Gaara's wrist and stood a step away. Wiping his face with the sleeve of his shirt, he raised his right hand and placed it on Gaara's heart._

 _"Give your heart a chance. You need to let go of the hatred… the sorrow… the regret." The wide eyed Gaara was looking at Naruto's bright blue eyes. He could see several emotions in them. Honesty, trust, sorrow, love…._

 _"Why are you doing this?" Gaara couldn't help asking._

 _"Because I need you." With this he held Gaara's right hand and placed it on his own heart._

 _"I have wounds too... I want to heal your wounds and…. I need you to heal mine"_

 _"…Its impossible." The red head whispered stubbornly, sadness taking over his once indifferent face._

 _"Trust and love, heal wounds of the heart." Bringing both of his hands back on his sides, Naruto looked towards the general area of the school cafeteria. "I am healing …. And you can too"_

 _Gaara was speechless. Seconds passed by and it felt like hours have flown away. He wanted him to trust again?…Hope again?… Can he?_

 _"I can't" He whispered._

 _"You can…. Let me heal you". Naruto smiled and walked away._

But, he never stopped following him.

Going against his own rules, Gaara had trusted him. And each day, his trust flourished well. He was far from being happy but he felt a little different whenever he was near Naruto. He felt calm. Not to mention he was now a part of a group made of disastrously different people. Due to this he also felt a little indebted to the Blue-eyed-blond. It seems he could see the good in everyone and couldn't resist helping anyone he thinks is sad. But what about him.

Gaara was well aware that Naruto is not who he pretends to be. He had secrets which he doesn't want anyone to know and Gaara had no issues regarding it. He has his own sets of secrets too. But, he did notice that his friend has been more disturbed and restless after his fight with the raven _ratbag_. Both the boys were found missing after their trip to the school principal. While Naruto returned the next day, and apologised for leaving due to stomach ache, Uchiha had taken a day off. And when he did come to school, he was all gloomy and spaced out. What was stranger, was that instead of bugging his friends for attention like he usually did, Naruto had left him be. Moreover, he was sure that Naruto deliberately kept diverting everyone's attention, whenever someone attempted to converse with Sasuke.

He observed his new best friend silently. His friend was staring ahead deep in thoughts, wrinkling his forehead, biting his lower lip and absently scratching the table with his right hand. Feeling a stare on his face, Naruto blinked a couple of times and broke out of his reverie. But instead of turning his face towards Gaara, he glanced at Sasuke first and then at Gaara. Realising that he was caught on something he was trying to conceal, Naruto blushed and opened his mouth to say something, probably to lie but Gaara beat him to it.

"Hikaru."

Naruto closed his mouth and looked at Gaara curiously.

"My pet…..I wanted to name him Hikaru." The red head answered quietly.

Feeling utterly grateful for understanding his anxiousness, Naruto smiled softly, "I am sure he would have liked it."

Gaara turned his face and stared at his tray again.

 _'Let me heal you too.'_


	7. My love will never change

Hi all. I am back with another chapter or should I say half of it. I wanted to include the events of the entire day before Naruto's visit to graveyard (chapter two). I was struggling to write the last part real hard and wouldn't have posted for a few more days when my sister casually commented 'Why not post half of it" and I am like 'Oh!'. So..hehe, here is the half of the day of twist. Rest will be posted in the next few days as I am almost done with it too. ... Please review.:)

 **"I dont own Naruto or any Character in this fic"**

Three days ago, Sasuke had returned home to find that his trip to the graveyard was coincidentally on an important day. Their death anniversary. He had not visited them in two years. Where the first year he was barely done with the counseling and medicines to cope with his depression and the second year he just did not feel strong enough to face them. Sasuke had been sitting under the tree behind the school since second period. His back and head resting on the tree trunk, left leg straight and right folded with right arm resting on the folded knee, he wanted to sit here forever in peace and quiet.

"Self-pity doesn't suit you, Uchiha"

Shaken awake from his thoughts by a gruff comment from an unwelcomed guest, he refused to look at the owner of the voice.

"I am not interested in any of your judgments on me, Subaku. So, you can take you pristine ass and get lost" Hoping that the irritating classmate would leave soon, Sasuke closed his eyes to get back on what he was thinking, ignoring the red head.

Leaning casually on a tree couple of steps away, Gaara silently stared at the sulking raven with folded arms.

"What does he see in you?" Gaara asked softly, almost inaudibly.

Even though Sasuke was surprised to hear the comment, he did not make any movement to show it.

Gaara sighed and shook his head. "Make no mistake Uchiha, you are, in no way, of any importance to me. I only tolerate you because of Uzumaki. You aren't worth a second of mine."

"And he is? I wonder what he did to make you bend on your back for him" Sasuke sneered finally looking at him.

Even though Gaara had spoken indifferently, he had not missed the slight furrowing of the raven's brows or the clenching of his fists at the mention of their blond friend. And Sasuke's retaliation proved his discomfort towards their friendship.

Instead of getting offended, he found his retort amusing. Not wanting to let go of a chance to irritate him further, he decided to lay the bait.

"Well, not that it is any of your concern. But I have decided to give him a chance. He is an interesting person." Gaara answered with an irritating smirk.

Sasuke wanted nothing more than to bash that pale face in. He decidedly ignored intruder and closed his eyes. "Really now. Why don't you go do your catching up with him then instead of bothering me"

Enjoying the burning jealousy of the dark haired classmate, Gaara continued "I don't need anyone's permission to see him. As for why I am bothering you, you are in my place."

Sasuke looked at Gaara sharply with a confused raising on an eyebrow.

"You are sitting in my place."

Sasuke stared at him for a few seconds and then made a show of looking at sitting spots under other trees. "Your spot? What are you? Two?"

Gaara continued to stand there staring at him nonchalantly.

Not willing to bear his presence for another second, Sasuke stood and walked passed Gaara bumping his shoulder with his.

But before he went far, he heard Gaara's comment.

"Good you understood your place, Uchiha. Unlike you, I don't let anyone take my place." He stopped and added his very audible smirk "What worth I would be, if I am replaceable?"

Sasuke stopped in his track. He could not think of any response to the dirty hurtful truth, the green eyed demon had shot at him. Clenching his fists in anger and frustration, he stomped towards the school building.

Hot rage and frustration took over his head. He tripped on an uneven ground of the school yard, and barely escaped hurting his face. With his hands and knees on the ground, he stared at the dry grass recalling what the red head jerk said.

"Replaceable" he whispered.

Hurtful memories surfaced in his mind.

His father's casual "hmm" when he told him that he ranked 1st in the entire school in his 4th grade.

 _His teachers mentioning his brother everytime he scored the best._

 _Chibi Naruto always going to Itachi when Sasuke fought with him._

 _Fugaku threatening to kill him and not regretting when he wished to look for Naruto._

 _Fugaku's forever dissapointed gaze over him._

 _Naruto hugging Gaara._

 _Naruto smiling at Gaara._

 _Naruto calling him Ga-chan._

 _Gaara softer gaze towards Naruto during lunch._

 _"I decided to give him a chance."_

 _"What worth I would be, if I am replaceable"_

Sasuke clentched his eyes tightly to stop the tears of anger coming out of his eyes. He hated crying and crying was all he had been doing from the past few days. Taking deep breaths, he stood up and walked towards his locker.

After collecting his bag from the locker, he called his driver to pick him up.

"Fuck school, I m out." he said angrily to himself.

$# ^%$&$#&$#&%$#&%$#&&$&%(^&%(&^%(&%$^#&%$#&%$&%$#%

"thwack"

Not moving from his position on the floor, Naruto tried easing the stinging of his back from being thrown down for the third time in 10 mins.

"You are not paying attention." Itachi drawled slightly irritated at the lack of focus from his sparring partner."You have not been able to stay on your legs even for 5 mins today. What's wrong?" he asked the fallen boy.

When Naruto ignored his question and laid still with closed his eyes, he shook his head and walked towards the side stand for his water bottle.

After taking three gulps, he stood there looking at his reflection on the mirrored wall.

He had decided to wear his favorite black T shirt with the grey sweat plants today, looking forward to a good workout. Though, his hair was tied in a bun on the back of his head, several locks escaped and fell on both sides of his face.

Playing distractedly with his loose locks under his chin, he thought of the first time he had brought Naruto to this place.

He remembered, how impatient and worried his 10 year old otouto was when Naruto had not shown up on their meeting point before school for two days in a row. Mikoto had secretly sent Itachi to check on him.

It was Naruto, himself who had opened the door for him. Itachi was shocked and appalled to see the condition the usually cheerful boy was in. His face was bruised and swollen and he was leaning heavily on one leg. After a lot of useless lies, he accepted that he was being bullied at school but instead of reporting it, he wanted to deal with it himself.

So, they agreed on learning self defense.

Itachi had brought him to _Tsume,_ the dojo he frequented since he was 8 yrs old. While he had a personal dojo in the Uchiha compound, he preferred to be in a non Uchiha environment for his self development. Sasuke continued to train in their family dojo. After Naruto had calmly settled in their training sessions, they started a tradition of training three days a week which was usually Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

He never regretted the decision as Naruto was a quick learner and had nearly mastered Judo, Karate, Taekwando, Jujutsu and kickboxing in 7 years. Itachi was proud to say that he was the only opponent apart from his best friend Kisame, who have been able to give him a thrill of fighting. However, the blond always wished he had the same talent in studies.

Though he is yet to defeat Itachi in any of their spars, he never mad it easy for him to win. Apart from being fun, their was a factor of intrigue in these sessions. The older boy had observed a very interesting change in Naruto during their spars. While he seemed all cheerful and careless before the spar, his aura and stance would drastically change once the fight start. His posture would become utterly calm and focused, eyes full of confidence and a small but casual smile on his lips. As a person who seldom showed emotions, he initially thought that it was all a pretense to fool the opponent. But soon, he realized that he was wrong. Naruto was like an open book and would show the exact emotion he felt every moment. And that is what Naruto felt when he sparred, Calm, confident and sure, not in winning but in living the chance to fight without holding back. Naruto loved sparring and it made him feel free.

Itachi was really proud of him. Despite being shorter and slimmer than most of his peers, he could easily take on a more stronger opponent. He was exceptionally quick and had a strong footwork and holds and that is why he enjoyed sparring with him. He was well aware of his short comings and worked hard to compensate them with his strengths. As his personal trainer, Itachi knew never to be on the receiving ends of his powerful kicks.

"...ainting in your room"

Still lost in his evaluation of his disciple and friend, he almost missed the soft words from the blond young man. Moving his eyes to the reflection of the younger man laying on the floor.

"hmm?"

"...It took you 3 months to complete that painting, the one you keep on an aisle near the window in your room." Naruto said softly, as if thinking out loud.

A sad smile crept on Itachi's face but he waited for him to continue. It was after a long moment, he heard the next question.

"Do you ever feel afraid?" Naruto almost whispered the question. Itachi turned slowly to look at the blond directly, noticing the anxiousness evident in his voice.

"Afraid?"

"Afraid. ...when you feel that the harsh sun is ...eroding its colors. ...Scared, when the moisture of the rains ...dampen the shades... Worried, when the winds try to push its hold on the frame." He stopped and looked at the older boy sadly. "What to do you do, ... when you fear... to keep it safe"

Finally understanding the deli-ma of his young friend, he walked and sat cross legged next to him, smile still on his face.

"I try to be there" He said."I try to see if there is something I can do to fix it. And if there isnt..."

Naruto opened his eyes to look at Itachi, listening intently.

Itachi moved his hand and picked up thr pended lying on the floor next to Naruto's neck, still attached to the silver chain he was wearing"... sometimes there is nothing I can do and I bear that it will have to suffer its fate. But ...there is one thing that will not change." he took a moment to ensure that his bolnd companion is paying attention. "No mater how ugly it becomes,... it will always be special to me. I will always love it... "

Staring fondly at the dark blue pendent with two pearl white dragons entangled with each other, he asked "What would _you_ do?"

A small smile spread across Naruto's face. He closed his eyes again, shyly and answered softly, "My love will never change too."

"Beep Beeeep Beep beeeeep... Beep Beeeeeep beep Beeeeeep."

The seriousness of the air suddenly dissipated with the sound of Itachi's phone ringing.

Content with the outcome and grateful that their conversation was not interrupted, Itachi got up to answer his phone.

"What is it?" It was evident that Itachi was not expecting a call from whoever called.

After a short pause, "Suzuki San, could you please come to the point" Itachi said irritatingly.

Naruto sat up and looked intently at Itachi, trying to guess the situation.

"Has he now? ...When?"

Naruto could see that Itachi's mood had shifted from irritated to disapproving.

"Ok...Which one did he ask for?"

The blond imagined that this was something work related so he started playing with the pendent and ignoring the conversation.

"hmm. Thanks for letting me know. I will send someone to check on him. Thanks."

Itachi did not even wait for the other person to acknowledge before he hung up. He looked at Naruto to say something but instead let out a deep sigh.

"I need you to do me a favour"

"Sure. What is it?" Naruto asked, putting the pendent under his shirt.

"Sasuke has checked-in at one of our hotels. Could you check up on him for me


	8. Lost Boy

Hi all, so here is the next chapter as promised. This was the toughest writeup for me and the longest too. Hope you like it, Please review. :).

Warning: Light swearing and sexual contents. Yaoi*

 ** _I dont own Naruto or any other character in this fic._**

Naruto found it ridiculous that Sasuke drove for 2 hrs to stay at this hotel when they practically owned all the hotels in Konoha. Itachi said that apparently, Sasuke had tried other bars on the way and was declined since he is underaged. But then he wondered why was Sasuke not able to bribe his way in. To that Itachi had just smirked and said "How will they use the money, if they won't live to use it." …. _'err well, Itachi is scary_ '.

When he reached the hotel, the manager had handed him the keys politely after the driver had introduced him as Mr Uchiha's ward. Opening the door quietly, Naruto stepped in, instantly appreciating the beautifully decorated suite.

 _'_ _Waaaaaaoooow! I wish I knew how to whistle.'_ This one room was four times the size of his one room apartment. Not wanting to dirty the cream colored carpet, he removed his shoes and walked in.

Pasty green walls, cream and gold curtains, classy lamps, large white leather couches and a TV that covered half of the wall in the living area. On the far right, there was what seemed like a marble set open kitchen with a mini bar and a dining area. Straight ahead was a curtained glass wall. But what stood out were various articles of clothes on the floor. He recognised the Konoha Academy's black blazer, a tie, socks and shoes immediately. Since Sasuke was nowhere to be seen, he stepped towards a door to the left and walked in to a beautiful and cosy bedroom. The interior was similar to the living room but instead of the glass wall, there was a balcony with glass doors. There was another door on the right side which he assumed to be the bathroom. When he didn't see his friend there too, he walked around the large bed and into the balcony.

Putting his hands on the cold railing, he took a moment to appreciate the beautiful view. It was almost 8 in the evening and the late evening sky was shadowing the mountains and trees around the hotel. The cool breeze and sound of the night life gave a feel of both peace and loneliness.

"Itachi sent you here, didn't he?"

Startled by the voice of his best friend, Naruto turned to find him sitting on the floor leaning on the side of the bed with a half-empty whisky bottle in his hand.

Naruto knew that Sasuke was a very sensitive person and would always read more in what was said than what the other person meant. He casually walked towards him closing the balcony door and sat next to him facing the balcony.

"No, he didn't send me here…. He asked me and I agreed to come because I wanted to."

Taking a gulp from the bottle, Sasuke continued to stare ahead and Naruto had to control his urge to snatch that bottle from his hand and throw it out of the balcony. But Instead he observed his drinking classmate.

His hair was disheveled and face red, maybe due to all the drinking and there were visible dark bags under his eyes. His lips were a little red due to the cold weather.

"Don't you have an evening shift today?" Naruto was startled again by Sasuke's abrupt questioning.

"Hmm, I asked old man Tuechi to swap my off for tomorrow. But instead he gave me a leave as I hardly take any." Naruto smiled at the thought of his kind boss.

"Then you should have gone home and rested or maybe gone out with your friends" Sasuke said, still staring ahead.

"I _am_ out with my friend, am I not?"

"Are you?" Sasuke turned his face and stared directly into Naruto's eyes.

"Yes I am." He said without a beat.

Sasuke Paused for a moment not looking at all satisfied with the reply. "Why are you really here, dobe?"

"I told you, Teme. I am here 'coz I was worried about you."

"No. You are here because you pity me, you are here because you want to show off how gentle and kind you are, you are here because you want to play being a hero and try to save me. But I would rather that you get out of here because I don't need your crappy sympathy."

Naruto felt his anger rising and he almost exploded on his brooding Uchiha. But he knew that the best way to calm him down is let him vent and that is why he was here.

"When have I ever pity you Sasuke. And why should, you don't have anything to be pitied about!" Naruto said calmly. When Sasuke ignored his answer and turned back to his staring, he snatched the bottle from him and continued. "As for showing off, whom am I showing off to? There is no one here. And you certainly don't think I'm worth anything to show off for."

He took a gulp from the bottle and almost gagged at the bitter taste.

"What are you doing" Sasuke angrily snatched the battle back from Naruto.

"What? You can drink that and I can't? Because you are rich and I am not? You are smart and I am not?" _'You are pretty and I am not?'_

"Stop being an idiot and go back" Sasuke sounded a little calmer.

Naruto tried to snatch the bottle from Sasuke again but he was pushed back. "Why don't you go and bother your new friends? You seem to like them a lot more than you do me." he took a big gulp from the bottle finishing it.

Naruto was slowly losing his resolve to remain calm. "What are you talking about, Teme? When did I ever say that?"

Sasuke laughed sarcastically and threw the empty bottle away. "Really now? Well, let's see. I wait for you to leave school every day and instead of being grateful, you have to hug and kiss every soul in the goddamn building before you come out. You know very well how I hate conversations and you spare no moment to irritate and bother me. I told you not to bring in more strays and you go and befriend every weird character around the corner. Then you brought that red hair freak to our table. I told you to get rid of him and you started spending half of your lunch time with him. Did you really think I wouldn't realize that you were missing during lunch EVERY SINGLE DAY for a week?" he pushed his face closer to Naruto's in an act of intimidation. Naruto really wanted to roll his eyes now. Sasuke was a very possessive and jealous person by nature. He never liked sharing things and use to be very possessive of Naruto and his mother Mikoto. Thus, the enmity between Sasuke and Itachi as Itachi was close to both of them. Along with that him being drunk and the recent trip to his parents must be fueling his depression and anger.

"Gaara? Come on Sasuke, you know better than to get mad on these petty things. He is not a bad guy, just misunderstood. Like you, you know?"

Sasuke's rage was returning again, he caught the blonde's collar and pushed his face closer. "Don't you dare compare me with him. I don't want to be associated with an arrogant overconfident jerk?" Naruto felt the warm puffs of alcohol over his nose. Even sitting down, Sasuke had bent his head slightly to keep an eye contact. Damn! His height.

"I am not comparing, I am just stating the facts. I never denied that I spend some time with him during lunch, nor I am asking you to be all talkative. I just wish that you trust me and bare the additional baggage with me." He said softly not moving his eyes away from him. "You are my best friend. My first friend and someone I have known all my life. You are my precious person and I will never choose anyone over you. Please… don't ask me to prove it". Naruto's voice was barely above a whisper.

Sasuke stilled looking at the emotions in his friend's voice.

Staring at the dark eyes, Naruto realized that during their argument, they had come vey close. Their noses were only an inch apart and he could make out all the small details of his face. Like, Sasuke had really long dark lashes and very light freckles on his nose and cheeks. Instinctively, his eyes went lower to those reddish pink lips. They had started to become a little rough due to the cold weather. He wanted to touch them, feel them, taste them.

Lost in his thoughts, he couldn't control the sudden movement of his body and their lips touched. There was a sudden shiver of happiness in his body as if he had heard all the colors and felt his favorite songs on his skin. He was ridiculously happy. But all too soon he realised what he had done. Breaking away suddenly, he saw that Sasuke was frozen at his place with wide eyes.

Swallowing nervously, he called softly "Sasuke?" and became a little scared when there was no response.

"Umm… Sasuke…Uhh… I …." Before he could finish, Sasuke had suddenly grabbed his collar smashing their lips together pushing him on the floor. In a second, he was over him kissing him roughly. Too shocked to even respond, Naruto stilled while Sasuke grasped the back of his neck with both hands, sucking and biting his lips.

Slowly, he grabbed the back of the raven's shirt and tried to pull him away. "Ah,, Sa…. Mmha….. wai…" Sasuke took this opportunity to push his tongue in his mouth.

"ahhhhhhh" Naruto was unable to stop the moan that escaped his abused lips. Reflexively, he stopped pulling him away and instead put his arms around him and pulled him closer. All of sudden he felt thrusting of Sasuke's hips over his clothed pelvis and Sasuke's evident hard on. Naruto could feel himself growing hard really fast too. Shyly, at first, but he too started to rubbing their hips together.

The older boy started to move his lips towards his chin and neck and finally ended on the juncture of his neck.

 _'_ _Oh… Oh… Oh God.'_ Blue eyes rolled back. With his lips still sucking on his neck, Sasuke's hands moved to Naruto's belt. The blonde was hardly in any state of thinking. By the time he understood what was going on, his pants were off and he was watching his friend shakily removing his own trousers too. His eyes widened at the sight of Sasuke junior, who was not junior at all. _'Oh Shit.'_ He felt his face heat up as the situation hit him.

"Sa… Sasuke?... wait. You are drunk."

Sasuke was finally free of his trousers and was back on him in the next moment.

"Shut up, usuratonkachi" and started kissing him again.

"Sasuke…ahhhhhhh" His arms went around Sasuke impulsively as Sasuke started rubbing their naked hard-on together. The next moments were a rush of force and heat. Soon enough Sasuke could not take anymore and shifted between Naruto's legs. He moved his arms under his knees and raised brought the blonde's knees towards his shoulder to raise his rear a little.

Naruto knew what was coming next. He broke away from the kisses and tried to stall the rushing Uchiha.

"Sasuke wait, you need to first pre….. ughhhhhhhhhhhh" the words got stuck in his throat as he felt the extreme pain of penetration. Closing his eyes and mouth tightly he pushed his face in the raven's clothed shoulder and gripped the back of his shirt, holding him tight for dear life. Tears of pain squeezed out of his clenched eyes.

Sasuke knew that this must have hurt a lot. Fighting with his urges, he stopped moving once he was fully inside him. After several moments, he felt Naruto's grip on his back loosening. Taking this as a que to move, he started moving in a slow pace. Sasuke was not a virgin as he had already had girlfriends in the past but this was the first time he had done it with a guy and he agreed that it was waayyyyyyyyy better than being with a girl. He increased his pace and the room echoed with the sounds of their moans and pants.

Naruto was grunting softly at each thrust, occasionally tightening his grip whenever he felt the sting of pain. He was not in much pain now, but the high he had gotten before the 'Ahm,ahm' had been drained from his body. _'Sex is overrated'_ he thought. But he was glad that Sasuke was enjoying it. His thoughts were shaken when he felt something hit in him making him see stars.

"Oh… Godddddddddd". He moaned loudly. His grip tightened and his hard on become alive again. The raven continued to pound the short boy's back making him wither in pleasure. But soon enough, Sasuke came with a quite 'Fuck' and fell on the blonde boy with a couple of thrusts following his release.

Unfortunately for Naruto, he was yet to come. If asked he would tell anyone that the pain of not getting your release is much worse than the pain of an unprepared penetration.

The alcohol and the tiredness were finally catching up with the drunk Uchiha. Not realising the state of his friend, Sasuke pushed himself away from Naruto and laid next to him. Naruto clutched his own shirt, breathing harshly and trying to keep the tears of frustration at bay. He thought of finishing himself up but felt too shy without with Sasuke lying near him. Taking a long moment to calm down, he turned his head to look at his now dozing friend.

The blonde stared at the beautiful face which was now calm and peaceful. His hair was stuck to his head with sweat and his mouth slightly open. Everyone knew that Sasuke had trust issues, so being here with him in such a defenceless state showed how much he trusted Naruto. A small smile crept over his face. No longer in pain due to his softening hard on, Naruto raised his hand and brushed Sasuke's hair away from his eyes tenderly. His fingers moved over his temple and cheek lightly and back to his hair. Brushing his hair fondly, he remembered a time when Sasuke was as calm and peaceful as now.

 _'_ _Miko chan'_ He thought sadly. He removed his hand from his hair and slowly stood up wincing in pain. Only then did he realise that despite being in a luxurious suite of a grand Uchiha hotel, they had spent all this time on a carpeted floor. He then pulled a pillow and the comforter from the bed and helped the snoozing boy get comfortable on the floor. Thanking Gods for his quick healing ability, he limped his way to the bathroom intending to get a good long hot water bath.

Sasuke had woken up to the sound of the shower running in the bathroom. He rubbed his temples feeling the hangover taking over him. Closing his eyes, he recalled the moments of pleasure he had spent in this room. He started pulling his hair in frustration. He slowly got up and picked up his trousers deciding to leave but stops midway at the sound of his friend singing in the bathroom.

 _There was a time when I was alone  
Nowhere to go and no place to call home  
My only friend was the man in the moon  
And even sometimes he would go away, too._

Sasuke eyes widened when hearing the song sung by the same person after 4 years.

Then one night, as I closed my eyes  
I saw a shadow flying high  
He came to me with the sweetest smile  
Told me he wanted to talk for awhile

He was taken back to the memory of himself playing this song on the grand piano. His mother had forced Naruto to sing, somehow confident that he sings well. She sat on a stool with an affectionate smile on her face humming along. Sasuke had almost stopped when Naruto had started to sing. He didn't want to say, but Naruto had a beautiful voice and it was clear that he sang a lot as his voice was toned with experience. His mother had been very happy with their music and much to their embarrassment, had made them repeat it.

 _He said, "Peter Pan, that's what they call me  
I promise that you'll never be lonely, " and ever since that day_

Sasuke closed his eyes and saw his mother's adoring gaze at her favourite part of the song.

I am a lost boy from Neverland  
Usually hanging out with Peter Pan  
And when we're bored we play in the woods  
Always on the run from Captain Hook  
"Run, run, lost boy, " they say to me  
Away from all of reality

Sadness crept on his face as he started missing the one person who had always loved him and cared for him.

 _Neverland is home to lost boys like me  
And lost boys like me are free  
Neverland is home to lost boys like me  
And lost boys like me are free_

Naruto was reaching for the towel when he heard the clicking of the bedroom door. He held the towel towards his chest and stood still. He wasn't surprised that Sasuke had left. He almost expected him to leave immediately after they were done, but having to bear it happen was not easy. His vision blurred as he felt the stings on his tear ducts as he slowly walked out of the bathroom in a blue bathrobe. He would have been in a daze the entire night had it no been for the ringing of his cell phone. He picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Ah, Uzumaki Sama. I saw master Uchiha leave in his car. Would you be staying the night or should I prepare the car for your departure too?"

"…..No. We should leave too. Give me 15 minutes, I will come down."

"Of course. Do you want me to inform Uchiha sama?"

"No. Sasuke is most probably going home. So, there is no need to bother Itachi."

"Sure Uzumaki Sama. I shall wait for you then."

"Hmm. Thanks" he said hanging up.

A sad smile covered his lips as two tears betrayed him and fell on his mobile screen.

 _Neverland is home to lost boys like me_

 _And lost boys like me are free_

 _Purpledragonoffire: The above chapter were events of the night before chapter two. The song that was used in this fic was Lost Boy by Ruth B. (I like the nighcore version). So, Naruto goes to find Sasuke and sleeps with him. Even though, he doesnot get the best experiance for his first time, he doesnot regret it as he would do anything for Sasuke's happiness._


	9. Doubts and decisions

**I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR ANY OTHER CHARACTER IN THIS FIC.**

"You know, your stare have become really creepy nowadays." Sakura wanted to ignore her rival's comments but she knew Ino never liked to be ignored.

"You are not the one I am staring at. So, stop complaining." Ino rolled her eyes. The pink haired girl had been behaving strange from the past few days and her behaviour was getting onto her nerves. Today, she had asked her to sit with her at the back instead of next to Sasuke. But, instead of gossiping as usual Sakura had been staring at their love Interest thoughtfully. She knew that there was something that was bothering her and it was annoying that she didn't want to share it with her. It looked as if she has not been sleeping properly. Her skin was dull and there were dark circles under her eyes that she had tried to hide with ridiculous amount of makeup.

"Ugh! This is so boring. Come on, Sakura. Will you please tell me why are you behaving like this? I mean, granted we are the worst of his fangirls but this is border lining stalking. And I ain't no stalker, babes. Hey! Look at me." She pulled at her demanding attention.

"What?" Sakura said annoyed.

"What do you mean, what? _You_ tell me what's wrong with you. Why are you staring at Sasuke like that? Its not as if we need to stay away. We are more or less his friends now. And have looked at your face? When was the last time you even washed your hair? You look like a pink haired Medusa"

Sakura looked at her plainly, not at all impressed with her observation" That's not funny, Ino pig".

"I wasn't kidding, Pinkie." Ino replied with an identical expression.

Sakura exhaled loudly and turned to face Ino completely.

"Fine, you want to know what's wrong. _That's_ wrong." She said pointing towards the chattering blonde and a bored Sasuke sitting in front.

Ino looked towards them and back to her with a puzzled expression.

"What?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Don't you think there is something different about Sasuke kun and Naruto. They seem a lot closer than before. I mean, he still insults him and all but he seems more … er .. I donno sensitive, maybe, towards him."

It was Ino's turn to roll her eyes now. "If you are talking about what happened last week, then you need to let it go, Sakura. It was your fault anyway and anyone would have reacted how Sasuke did. They are childhood friends after all."

"I am not talking about that. Well….. actually, that can be taken as an example. I have always talked to Naruto like that, but Sasuke only ever told me to shut up. He never called me names before. To tell you the truth, I thought he was about to get up and slap me." Fear crossed her face for a moment.

"Well, you went too far too. Naruto has been asking you out for years now. There was no need to call him a worthless orphan. To tell you the truth, I think you are the one who is changing."

"Oh Shut up Ino. I stated the truth, nothing's wrong with it. But trust me, I know there is something different about them. The way they talk, look and touch each other is different. Don't you think? Come on, you have known Sasuke-kun longer than me. Isn't he behaving different than before?"

Ino looked at the small group of boys chattering in the second row. Despite making so much of noise, the Sarutobi sensei was sitting casually on his desk, with a half-lit cigarette, marking papers. Sasuke sat with his chin resting on his folded arms on his desk, facing Naruto. Next to him was Aoi and Tsuki arguing with Naruto who was chattering animatedly. There was something that Naruto said which made Tsuki scowl and turn his face away while Aoi laughed loud. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the stupidity of three boys infront of him.

"Well." Ino said thoughtfully. "Now when you say it, Sasuke does seem a bit different than before." Sakura looked at her attentively eager to take in her observation.

Ino still looked at Sasuke, lost in her analysis. "He has started involving himself now, doesn't he? I mean, he used to be with us but never liked speaking or conversing. He does that now too, but he seems to tolerate everyone more now, even react too." She turned to Sakura and gave an excited smile. "Remember, when we went to Kyoto, Naruto kept clinging to him refusing to look down from that bridge, Sasuke kept smirking at him. You know, I really felt that Sasuke was enjoying." Her smile dimmed a little. "It was the first time I had seen Sasuke actually having fun after his parents died. He seemed to have gained a little faith in life now. As for Naruto, I am not sure if anything changed with him. He has always been a tail to Sasuke, so there is nothing different there."

Sakura couldn't help but scowl at her. "Well, don't you want to know why they are like this, then?"

Ino frowned at her friend's stubborn attitude. "Why? What difference it would make. Sasuke is happy and I am happy that he is happy. What's there to worry about."

"URGGGGGGHH! That's exactly what we need to worry about. There is something wrong and I know it. Trust me. It's a women's instinct.

Ino blinked at her twice. Sakura felt defeated, "Whatever."

The entire morning went by in a haze. While few teachers gave them free periods to study, others were throwing random surprise tests. The exams were a month and half away. The dry and sunny weather helped to lift of some of the cold. The snow had started to melt but it was still very cold.

The classes after lunch always seemed to drag till the end. It was the last class and everyone was waiting for it to get over even before it began. The Japanese Language Teacher had already informed that she will be late due to the staff meeting, so everyone was sitting around and discussing their plans about Valentine's day next week.

"Oh Lookie, here comes Louie, Dewey and Heuy." Ino said looking at Naruto, Kiba and Lee.

''Hey!'' Kiba scowled.

"Along with Uncle Scrooge and Donald duck." She added looking at the lazy Nara and Shino following them.

Shikamaru went and sat down on the nearest desk, pointing to Sasuke who was walking in "Launchpad is also here."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow seemingly disinterested but curious at the same time.

But Naruto was the one to answer the unasked question. "Ino is playing Duck tales" he yelled cheerfully. Sasuke pulled the jumping blonde's sleeves and made him sit in the next bench.

"You are too loud, idiot" he scolded without any venom in his voice.

Lee who had been standing behind the bickering boys, walked towards Sakura and cleared his throat to request her attention. Sakura had been glaring at the Chattering blonde's since he entered the class. She looked at Lee when he finally succeeded in getting her attention.

"Ano, Sakura- Chan. Ummmm… err.. I …. Err .. Sakura chan."

"Get to it, lee." Sakura said annoyed.

"Errr.. Sakura chan. On this bright youthful Mor.. er Afternoon, I would like to invite you to a dinner date this weekend at a wonderfully bright and youthfully coloured café by my incredibly healthy uncle has just opened. I will be full of life and youth, if you agree to accompany me this Friday evening to taste their Sushi and warm herbal tea." Lee said shyly.

"No thanks, I am busy." Sakura replied waving him off and going back to her glaring.

Lee's face dimmed a little but he immediately resolved to work hard and make her love interest love him back."Ok. You enjoy this youthful day, my lovely flower. I shall ask you again next time." He said and rushed to his seat at the front row.

Sakura rolled her eyes while Ino laughed at the interaction. Both of them have been sitting behind Shikamaru Nara and Shino Aburame, while Sasuke and Naruto sat on the desks next to Shino.

All of her lunch mates were there in this class except Tenten and Hinata. Kiba sat next to Shikamaru, while Lee sat infront of him. Gaara was the only exception as he sat at furthest corner of the class.

All of them were chatting around, while Gaara occasionally look at them.

Ino was really curious with the introduction of this Gaara character. "Hey big forehead, what's up with this Gaara guy. He only sat with us for like two weeks and I am really confused if he is our friend or not. I mean, he hardly speaks anything and glares at everyone. But then, he gives this nod like thing to Shino, Tenten, Hinata and I. He doesn't seem very happy around Lee, though I can't blame him. He just glares at Kiba and doesn't seem to know that you exist." Ino said as if thinking out loud. Sakura turned and glared at Ino for her part of the observation. "But what is stranger, is his interaction with Sasuke. I mean, I have only ever seen them glaring or smirking at each other. If one is glaring, the other is smirking and vice versa. Do you know, what's that all about."

Before Sakura had even thought about the question, there was a drawled-out response from the lazy genius sleeping at the next bench. "Depends on who Naruto is talking to."

"Huh?" Ino turned to the Lazy Nara.

"The one, who is smirking is the one Naruto is talking to at that time. The other one is the one glaring." Shika replied with his eyes still closed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ino was totally confused now. But it was a different story all together with Sakura. Her brows furrowed when she heard his response. She wanted Ino to stop asking more questions because she feared she will not like the answers. Her eyes flickered back to blonde idiot who didn't seem an inch tired from all the yapping he has been doing. Every now and he would turn to Sasuke and touch him somewhere. Either his hair, hands, shoulder, neck or ear. It was annoying how clingy he had become and Sasuke didn't seem bothered about it all considering how much he treasured his personal space. And then there was this thing about Gaara.

Her eyes darted towards the corner seat but instead of catching the red hair, they met the sea green eyes of their owner. Gaara was looking right at her with a blank face. Frozen, as if she was caught doing a crime, she felt the hair on her neck stand. After a moment, his eyes narrowed a little with a clear message and he turned his head back to the front.

Sakura exhaled loudly in relief, rubbing her face with both of her hands. "Yeah, I don't like you too." she muttered softly.

%% &%$#&%$*&%$&%$&^$&

Ino stared at her best friend who has yet to even glance at her from where she sat. She had been behaving really strange from the past one month. At first, she became all snappy and stalkerish and then she became all lost and gloomy. Ino thought, she knew everything about her best friend, but now she was not so sure.

After more than two weeks of reticence, Sakura had come to school with a cheerful face and greeting everyone. What irritated her the most was that she had only spoken a few words with her since morning. She had decided to confront her during Lunch but instead of sitting with her as usual, she went ahead and sat next to Sasuke.

 _'What are you thinking, Sakura.'_

Unlike her best friend, Sakura Haruno wasn't anxious at all. She made sure that she sat next to her crush during lunch. For this, she had started preparing the moment she stepped into the school gates. Cheerfully meeting, greeting and complementing everyone, especially her lunch mates. She also made sure that she behaves friendly towards Naruto without acting suspicious. So, when the lunch time came, she tactfully sat between Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto has never been able hide his emotions. So, it was pretty obvious that he was trying to pretend he didn't mind.

"Come on, Naruto. Don't sulk too much. Can't you let someone else sit with him for one day?" Sakura said pouting, pretending to joke but she was sure she saw Naruto froze for a second.

"Hehe, what are taking about, Sakura chan? Anyone can sit with him. Its just that I like annoying him a lot." He replied a little anxiously.

"I know, I was just joking." She laughed lightly. "Oh. I forgot to tell Hinata that I am going ahead for lunch. I hope she isn't waiting for me." Sakura made a show of looking towards the corridor worried for their missing friend.

"Do you want me to go look for her?" Naruto asked tilting his head a little.

 _'Too easy' she smirked mentally._

"If you don't mind".

While Naruto was out to look for Hinata, Sakura went back to her light chats waiting for the right time to casually step in the game.

"...Ah... I hope he finds Hinata."

"If you are so worried, why didn't you go look for her?" Tenten pointed out offhandedly.

 _'Bitch'_ But she pretended to consider the question without getting offended.

"Yeah, I should have. Now, I let Naruto waste his lunch time too." She turned to give a side look to Sasuke and smiled "He wasn't very happy to leave Sasuke kun too. I guess he cares a lot about Sasuke kun."

She saw a slight crease between the raven's brows but otherwise he seemed unaffected.

"Cares? They are joined by the hips, man. Blondie follows the asshole everywhere like a lost puppy" Kiba said laughing at his own joke.

"Shut up, Kiba. Don't make fun of him. It's unusual, but sometimes friends do become... ummm... , possessive of each other. It would have been problematic if he was a girl though." Sakura played of being the mature one.

"And why would that be?" Surprisingly, it was Rock Lee, who asked the question.

Sakura wanted to cringe looking at the spandex clad young man, but she smiled at him, making him blush dark red.

"You know how rumours fly in our school, right? The way Naruto clings to Sasuke kun, it wouldn't have taken a day for people to declare them as couples." she laughed pretending that even the idea of them being together is ridiculous.

"I didn't know gender was a problem in relationships." Came a sharp shot from Tenten.

 _'Here comes the lawyer.'_ Sakura stopped herself from gritting her teeth. She knew that she had gained everyone's attention at this point. Even Shino's eyes behind his dark glasses and the sleeping Shikamaru's ears were fully focused on the ongoing conversation. It will be tricky to put her point across without offending the dangerous guardians.

Despite all the bickering and taunting, Naruto held a special spot with everyone here. After all, he was the _common friend_ with all of them. Sakura and Ino were the only one who joined them because of Sasuke and that too took some convincing from Naruto as others didn't approve of Ino and her.

"I am just saying that it would have become a concern. Uchihas are known for their traditional values. Every one knows that their reputation is immaculate and unmatched. So, Sasuke kun may not like these types of rumours." She said innocently.

"I would appreciate if you do not discuss my family values among yourselves. Its rude." Sasuke interrupted harshly.

"I am sorry Sasuke kun. I didn't mean to offend you. ….Hey, here comes our missing friends. Where were you, Hinata?" She said, glad that Naruto and Hinata came just in time."

"Umm… Shibuya kun wanted to discuss the art project.. so… so… I …" Hinata tried answering.

"That's Ok, Hina chan. Sakura chan was just worried." Naruto said. And they all sat down continuing with the lunch.

Sakura smiled and looked at Sasuke who was eating his lunch silently but his face was shadowed with disturbing thoughts.

She remembered the time when she herself carried the same face for weeks. Confused and jealous of the cozyness that Sasuke and Naruto shared.

Sakura's suspicion and fear had made her come to a decision. she decided to warn Sasuke-kun of Naruto's ill intentions. So, she followed them when he was escorting Naruto first, it looked like Sasuke wanted to go in with Naruto but he got a phone call making him decide to leave. While, Sasuke was turning around giving him a half wave, Naruto had held his shoulder and _kissed_ him _on the lips._ Sasuke pulled his face away but it was after a moment. A moment too long. Also, instead of punching him on the face, Sasuke had just looked around as if to check if anyone had seen them in the act. Sakura's world was shattered in tiny pieces. She couldn't deny that she did not expect this at all. But she didn't want to believe it. She had spent two weeks living the pains of that moment and finally decided to take the matter in her own hands.

Coming back to the present, she looked at her lunch and started to eat slowly.

 _'Step 1: Create doubts. Complete.'_

 _Purpledragonoffire: So Sakura caught them in the act and decided to break them of. Lets see what she wants to do._

 _The smirking and glaring conversation of Sasuke and Gaara? Shikamaru observed that when Sasuke is talking to Naruto, Gaara glares at him and Sasuke Smirks. When Naruto is talking to Gaara, Sasuke glares, Gaara smirks. Childish! If you ask me._

 _Please review_


	10. When Love finds you

Hi guys. Hope you are all well. I am sorry it's been very long, almost two months. I have no better excuse than me not being able to focus. A lot of other things kept me away too. I broke my laptop a week before my exams and then got distracted by other fanfics. I had to reenergise myself with reading more and it brought me back to the writing thing. Hehe. Ahm. Sorry. Well, here is chapter 10 and I will post the next chapter by next week. Please leave a review as it will motivate me to post more often. ;) Hope you like it.

 **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

"Talking"

 _'Thinking'_

 _Flashback_

Chapter 10

"This is a nice place. "Ayame exclaimed, feeling the light breeze on her face.

It was a little after four in the evening, so it was pleasantly warm. They have been taking a nice nap after their late lunch at two. Konoha Botanical Garden and Children's Park was a big place with a lot of greenery. Apart from the variety of trees and plants surrounding the garden, there were a couple of cemented sheds, walkways and play area for children to enjoy the visits.

"You say that every time we come here." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"I do, because it's true." Ayame looked at his companion with affection in her eyes.

This was the third time they had come here and she enjoyed every moment of it. The first time they were here, Naruto had told her about the big news. He had started off 'shyly' with "I'm not a virgin anymore." which almost caused her a heart attack. But, he immediately confirmed that his partner was Sasuke.

THE Sasuke, he has been crushing on since he was 11.

Ayame had always been fond of the little boy she considered her baby brother and was very protective of him. Even though, she was sincerely happy for him, she couldn't help but feel a little worried about the lack of ownership from Sasuke.

Naruto had told her the details of before and after of their sleeping together for the first time. Also, about his fears of rejection and misunderstanding following the incident. But, instead of avoiding him, Sasuke had continued to have these _intimate_ moments (Ayame refused to acknowledge that her baby brother is doing the ding-dong and the bing-bong with that good for nothing jerk). They have been dancing around each other for over two months now, but, were yet to come out publicly.

"So..." She poked Naruto to get into the chatting mode "What's new with you and the grumpy pants?"

Naruto kept his eyes closed and continued to lie with both his hands under his head.

"Why are you asking? You don't like him anyway." Finally, peaking at her without moving his head.

"Che!" She shifted on her side to face him and lifted her head resting it on her palm while her elbow supported her head onto the side. "Its true that I don't like him. But that makes it all the more important for me to know. I need to keep my gun loaded for when he makes you sad." She said confidently.

Naruto snorted and turned on his side adjusting in the same manner as her.

"He is not going to make me sad, Aya chan. Stop worrying."

"Well, I am not the one blinded with fake affections."

Naruto sighed. "I have known him since we were little babies. Sasuke doesn't do things which he doesn't want. He would let me know, if he didn't want me." He said, trying to stop the conversation to become sour.

"And how did he ' _let you know'_ that he wants you?"

"Aya chan. Please…."

"Fine. You _know_ he likes you. He _knows_ you like him. Does anyone else _knows_ this?"

"... Ummm... They... um"

"So, he has not told anyone that he likes you or that you guys are together. Fine. No problem. Has he _told_ YOU that he likes you?"

"I told you, Neesan... I kno..."

Ayame sat up and said "Only _you_ know, Naru. And that too because you _think_ you do." She stopped him when he tried to defend himself. "You have told me everything. The circumstances, the incidents, how you felt and how different you both have become. While, I do believe that he likes you _a bit_, I can't help but want that he bucks up his saddle and voice it out. At least to you." She said these words slowly with emotions in her eyes and voice.

Touched by her concern, he sat up too, putting put both his hands on her shoulders "I know you are worried because you care about me. But Aya chan, guys are not like that. It is difficult for us to say these things. Besides, someone told me long ago that Sasuke really likes me but doesn't say it. Someone who knows him the best. So, I am not worried. Now, let's not get our mood spoiled on unnecessary things." Letting go of her shoulders, he gave her an appreciative look." By the way, you look damn good in this dress. For a second I thought you were going to ditch me to go on a date with someone"

Ayame was an average looking girl who mostly wore Tshirts and jeans. But today she wore a full sleeve dark grey woollen top and a denim skirt with black skin-tight leggings underneath. Her feet were covered in a nice pair of black and purple sneakers. Her shoulder length hair was tied in a pony tail but a few bangs were left lose that fell on one side of her face. She also applied a little bit of makeup which was only visible if you look too closely. In all, she looked very good.

"*Sigh* Well, I can't change my face but I do know how to look attractive." Ayame accepted this attempt to change the subject.

"Hey! there is nothing wrong with your face."

"Yeah, nothing's wrong with it doesn't automatically makes it right."

"Physical appearance is not the only thing that is counted as beauty, Aya chan."

"You can say that, you are not a girl." She turned her face to one side with a bitter face.

"I would have said that even if I was a girl. You are the best partner anyone can ever wish for." Naruto said with such sincerity that Ayame could not help but smile.

"And you are the most adorable boy, I have ever met." She stopped and let out a long sigh. "If you weren't chasing that arrogant bastard, I would have asked you out." She blinked at him flirtingly.

"Ok. Well, that would be gross and you know it. Besides, I am not the blue-eyed blonde you want." He said rolling his eyes.

"Guh! I know that." Looking at the sky visible between the tree leaves, she sighed loudly. "We are hopeless, aren't we?" She whispered. " It's hard for us to date anyway and we make it worse by being gay."

"That's not true." He waited for her to look at him. "We aren't gay. We fell in love with someone and that someone turned out to be from the same gender." He smiled reassuringly. Putting his hand on his chest, he felt the pendent under his Tshirt. "Looking for love is bound to end in a compromise. Either you compromise or let Love finds you. And if it finds you, you can't run away."

Ayame gave out a small laugh and ruffled his hair. "Look at that. I am getting lectured by a kid. Well, whatever. I think we should get going now. Don't you have to go to the gym? Seriously, I don't even know why you go there. You are still as short and thin as ever." She laughed and stood up dusting her clothes off any grass and sand.

"Hey, I am as tall as you. And I am NOT thin. I am _lean_. And it's not a 'Gym', it's a dojo. " He said in mock anger, standing up too.

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, are you guys going to the festival?" She asked while they were walking towards the exit.

"Hmm. We had a chat some time ago. I really wanted to see the fireworks. You know, I had always seen them from my window and never from the festival grounds." They walked out the park's gate and towards the adjacent street. "He hates these cheesy things and with the finals starting just a week later, he wasn't very thrilled. So, I told him that it was OK as I don't have anything to wear anyways." They stopped at the corner where they were going to part ways. He looked towards the street he was supposed to go and smiled shyly. "A couple of days later, he handed me a packet saying that he had an old Kimono and he wanted to see if it fits me. I promised him that I will wear it to the festival."

Ayame smiled at him teasingly. "Wow! So much for hating the 'cheesy things'."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Well, that was weeks ago. I am not sure if he still wants to go." Answering to the Ayame's raised eyebrow, he continued. "Sasuke has been a little cranky, lately. He gets irritated if I am near him, he gets irritated if I am with someone else. It's like he is on his periods. It's so frustrating. Maybe, it's the pressure of the finals or all the fangirls chasing him." He said quietly. Ayame just stood silently, even though she wanted to shout 'I told you so'.

"*Sigh*, I am sure he will be OK once the finals are over. So, you don't need to worry about me." He smiled widely. Ayame shook her head in defeat and hugged him affectionately.

"OK then, ja ne."

"Hmm." He hugged her back and they walked on their own ways.

He walked to the dojo with a hand on his chest holding the pendent tightly. "Everything will be ok." He tried to convince himself.

$%$^%$&^%&*&*()()*)()()IP_)

Sasuke was bored.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to go home and get bugged by Itachi or stay here and get bugged by these annoying idiots. Itachi had been emphasising on 'family time' more and more recently and that would always will be the last thing on his things to do list. And he knew that the topic is going to the same thing as it has been for 2 months now. _"Sasuke, the hotel manager found blood on the bedroom carpet. Did you have a fight with Naruto that day?"_ It took him 5 minutes to guess where the hell the blood came from. He had never run away from his brother in such a speed before. Not wanting to suffer that humiliation again, he chose to come to the mall with his lunchmates instead of discussing that cursed topic.

He tried his best to tolerate his noisy companions for 3 hours but, he drew the line when the dog boy herded everyone towards the arcade section. Pretending to be on a call, he waited for them to go in and then made his way to the opposite direction. After 30 mins of a tiring walk and glaring at the googly eyed girls at the malls, he sat on a sofa in the waiting area and took out his phone.

 _Eight miss calls from Aniki._

Closing his eyes for a moment, he tried to remember the moment they had broken apart.

Itachi and Sasuke used to be very close when they were young. They had moments of bickering and fights, but he knew, no matter what, Itachi would always have his back. Sasuke also accepted that his brother was the epitome of perfection, a prodigy, a golden son that his father was proud of. Even though, the younger Uchiha the affection of his mother and Itachi, he starved for his father's approval. His father favouring the elder son more than him, made him feel betrayed. He knew that it was not his brother's fault and that his brother loved him dearly. But he could not stop himself from becoming bitter. Instead of looking at him as his idol, he started looking at him as his rival. Instead of getting inspired, he became jealous. Instead of learning from him, he was competing with him. He could see that Itachi was saddened by this change and tried several times to reduce this gap between them. It only became worse after their parent's death.

"I can see that you are getting bored." Sasuke gave a mental groan and looked up at the person who had disturbed his sulking. "Here, I got you something to drink." Sakura smiled and thrusting a cup of steaming hot coffee in his hands. "black, no sugar. Right?"

Sasuke stared at the coffee in his hands but replied with a question of his own. "Where are the others?"

"Still at the arcade. It was very noisy, so I came out."

"Hmm."

Sakura sat next to Sasuke but made sure that there was decent space between them. She had worked really hard to change her image of his fangirl and she noticed that Sasuke did not cringe in her presence anymore. "Sasuke kun, why didn't Naruto come today?"

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. "Why are you asking me?" He took a sip from the bitter coffee.

"Sorry. He is always with you, so I thought you knew." She starting playing with the ribbon on her dress and casually continued. "Its good that he is not here. Its difficult enough to handle Kiba alone. Both of them would have been too much to control." With the corner of her eyes she saw Sasuke's facial expression to loosen a bit. _'Not so fast, love.'_ "But you must be feeling lonely without him."

At this, Sasuke stopped staring at his coffee and glared at her with a hardened face. "And why, pray, will I feel ' _lonely'_ without that loser."

Raising her hands in defence, she said "I mean, he is your best friend. And he is damn possessive of you too. He is always around you. So, It's natural that you get attached." She smiled casually and looked around continuing in a bored manner. "It's not a big deal for him, since he is very clingy with everyone. He doesn't understand what personal space is, at all. Look, how clingy he gets with Gaara." She could now feel glare become icy. _'Careful, Sakura.'_ "It's a good thing he is not a girl, he would have been a real player." She let out a small laugh. "Anyways… you know, there is a girl in the senior year who went around with a guy in the same class. I heard there was huge mess as the girl became really clingy. Apparently, it was supposed to be a casual relationship but the girl became obsessed with him. Now, he is trying hard to get rid of her, but, she believes that she has more claim on him since, they have done a lot of intimate things."

He stood up abruptly stood up and threw the almost full coffee cup in the trashcan. "I am leaving first. Let everyone else know."

"Uhh.. Ok. Do you want me to drop you? You came with Tenten, right?"

"Its Ok. I will take a cab home." Saying that, he sped towards the lift.

Sakura sat waving at him with a humourless smile on her face.

Flashback (Friday)

 _Sakura had been looking for Sasuke from the past 15 minutes. He checked the classes, the cafeteria, sports ground and even asked some guys to check the boy's washrooms. But he wasn't there. And so was that blonde bastard._

 _"Where the hell are they." She muttered while walking around the school building and almost shrieked in surprise. There, a couple of feets away, around the corner Sasuke and Naruto sat with the back resting on the building's wall. Sakura did not like what she was seeing. Hair dishevelled, shirts untucked, Belts undone and tired faces. She hid behind the pillar and quietly listened to them._

 _After a couple of minutes, Sasuke sat up and started fixing his clothes. "We should leave."_

 _Naruto hesitantly started to fix himself too. "Umm, Teme, Can I ask you something?"_

 _"hn." He replied uninterestedly._

 _"Sasuke… Are you happy?" he asked softly._

 _Sasuke stopped fixing his hair and turned to him sharply. "What?"_

 _Naruto repeated at him sincerely "Are you happy?"_

 _The raven saw the emotions in his eyes and felt his heart beat pickup. He didn't know why, but it really scared him. These unknown feelings were really confusing him and he didn't know what to do. 'What's happening? Why is this happening?'_

 _"Sasuke?"_

 _"Shut up." He closed his eyes really tightly to get his emotions under control. "You are so annoying."_

 _"Hey!. I ju…."_

 _Sasuke turned towards the blonde and said "You want to know if I am happy?" He stood up and dusted his clothes." Well, I will be. Because I won't see your face for the next two days." He then walked towards where Sakura hid but luckily ran past her without noticing her._

 _Sakura took one glance at the stunned blonde and walked back to the school cafeteria. Her emotions were in haywire. She wasted to kill and die both. Her expressionless face was a mask of lies._

 _"Sakura? Where were you? We are almost done with the lunch. Here, you van share with me." Ino said while making place for her best friend to sit._

 _Sakura sat down and picked up the spare chopsticks and took a bite. She then looked up and smiled at everyone. "Hey guys. What's say we go to the mall this Sunday? We won't get much time before the exams anyways."_

End Flashback

Content with her actions, she made her way to the rest of the group. "Do you think, he can ever be happy with you, Naruto?" the pinkette whispered.

 _'Either you stop on your own, or I will make you stop.'_

 _Purpledragonoffire: And Cut. So that marks the end of the chapter. Please forgive my spelling or grammar mistakes. Here is an explanation of things that might have been confusing._

 _1)Aya chan is in love with another blue eyed blonde. Answer: Ino. No bummer there._

 _2)Blood on the hotel's bedroom's carpet? Answer: Remember both our heroes had their first time on the floor. The manager had called Itachi the next day reporting his concerns of a possible fight._

 _3)Naruto refused to come to the mall, why? Answer: Sasuke said he will be happy as he won't see Naruto during the weekend. So, he made sure that Sasuke doesn't see him during the weekend._

 _4)Two weeks before the exam and 1 week before the festival. The next chapter will involve a scene I imagined before I started the fic. I am hoping it comes out the way I thought._

 _Any questions? Please review. Should I continue the fic or not? I would love to know what you think._


	11. A right to love

Hi guys. I am back with the next chapter. I was supposed to publish this chapter on Saturday but I lost the entire document I wrote. I rewrote whatever I remembered but I feel the original was longer. God knows what I had written. Anyways, I finally got a review after a loooong time and it was about the summery, I knew it would come up one day or the other. I will pick it up. So, it will be a while before I publish the next chapter as I will work on the summery first. For me writing the chapter is easier than the summery. If I start writing the chapter first, I will miss on the summery. Since that is the only review I got, I guess there is nothing else noteworthy. Here is the next chapter. Hope you like it.

 **I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

"Talking"

 _Thinking'_

 _Flashback_

 _Chapter 11_

It is funny how the rush you feel while coming down in a roller coaster is different than falling from a building or a high place. Sitting under the same tree where Sasuke and Gaara argued more than a month ago, Naruto was trying to understand how his roller coaster ride turned into fall towards the pits in hell. It's not like he would enjoy the roller coaster ride either, since he had a phobia of heights.

Sasuke was like a ticking bomb and he too had lost his patience with him. All his crankiness had gone up to a whole new level in the past few days.

He still came to pick him up but refused to talk or walk beside him making him feel as if he was a pet following his master without a leash. During classes, he would sit with his fan girls, namely Sakura and Ino, instead of him. During lunch breaks he would hold conversations (which everyone thought he was incapable of) with the others, specifically Sakura. Naruto knew it was wrong to, but he had become very jealous of their _familiarity_.

Sakura kept bringing up stuff that showcased a ' _perfect'_ and a ' _bad'_ couple which would make Sasuke more irritated and quiet. Not able to contain his frustration, the blonde got into an argument with her but Sasuke, instead of supporting him, asked him to keep 'his moronic mouth shut'.

They have not spent a single moment with each other since last week.

Looking at the quite school grounds, Naruto let out a tired sigh. He had no idea if he will be going to the Festival this Sunday.

"You are not healing anymore" Naruto had almost forgotten that he wasn't alone.

Gaara had seen his friend walking to his spot at the start of the second period and decided to give him company. Naruto was a bright guy, full of colours, full of life. Having long lost his own ability to find happiness, he found himself drawn to his friend to feel various emotions. Gaara had started living and experiencing various emotions even though they were second hand. But looking at his friend in such a lost state, did not make him feel lost. It made him angry. Very angry. Because he knew what the cause was and he wasn't surprised.

Naruto smiled softly. "There are times, when you need to open the wounds wide to see what will heal them." He said. After a moment his face turned sour, "What crap, my brain spews sometimes." He shook his head in disgust.

Gaara gave out a small smile but turned all too serious in the next moment.

"Uzumaki. You need to let go. He is not worth it."

"Hmm… I know. I wish I could do that." He said sadly. "I wish, I….." He stopped abruptly as he saw Sasuke walking out of the school corridor towards the back. And following him, was his pink haired class mate. He narrowed his eyes as he watched them stop around the corner and talk about something. She seemed to be one talking, while he was mostly quiet. She then gave him a light pat on his arm, turned and went back in the school.

Sakura was overjoyed. She had spoken to Sasuke about his plans for the festival, only intimating that she wishes to go with him _as a friend_. Instead of the harsh rejection that she always got, he had hesitantly mentioned that he might not go at all. To that she had played another smart card of 'Uchiha heirs under focus'. It would normally make him irritated but surprisingly, he did not respond.

"You are a very smart girl, Sakura."

So-lost in her glee, she missed to notice her genius classmate on her way.

"Hey Shikamaru. I am sorry I didn't see you there."

Shikamaru Nara had been lazily leaning on the passage wall with his hands in his pockets and eyes closed as if sleeping comfortably like that. Instead of responding to her greeting, he stared at her for a Minuit and then lazily walked up to her.

"Even if you succeed in making a relationship this way, it will always be based on lies and foul play."

"Uhhh…. What?"

Looking at her puzzled expression, he continued. "Don't play innocent, Sakura. Sooner or later, he will find out and by then, you will not only lose a friend but also the reason of all your scheming."

Sakura Haruno knew that it was impossible to fool the lethargic genius with words or actions now. "Really? What am I doing wrong? I am merely giving him options and he is free to make his own decisions. Don't go off blaming me for someone else's priorities."

Standing straight to his full height of towering 5,11, gone was the lazy expression on his face leaving a serious and stern look. "Using people's emotions for your own selfish intentions can never be proven right, no matter how you look at it. You won't understand it now because you are stuck deep in your self-righteous selfishness." Giving her one final look, he moved past her to walk away while making his last statement "There is no medicine in the world that can heal the pain of regret. And its worst when you knew you had a chance to prevent it." With that he was gone.

The pink haired girl was stunned with the unexpected warning from her usually quite lunchmate. She stood frozen, all her previous excitement forgotten and her mind recapping the harsh conversation seconds ago. Shaking her head to collect her thoughts her eyes drew to a person rushing towards the basketball court across the school grounds. She decided to follow the blonde boy who was making his way towards her crush.

5$%*(*(()(*)()(*)(*

"We need to talk." Naruto declared after a while of watching him dribble aimlessly. Sasuke continued to ignore him.

Getting irritated with his silence, he snatched the ball from him. "Why are you behaving like this, Sasuke? Is there something I did wrong?"

"Why don't you ask yourself that every time you act like my bodyguard or more like one of my fangirls. If you pay attention to your surroundings for once, you will understand what's wrong." He said with gritted teeth, showing just how pissed he was at Naruto.

"When did I ever behave like that? It's not me, it's you who doesn't know what's going on around you. All you think nowadays is how right Sakura chan is."

"And that is exactly what your problem is, isn't it? I am fully capable of deciding who is right and who is not. She has done nothing wrong. You, on the other hand, were rude and insufferable. And your clinginess is seriously becoming an issue. What others think doesn't matter to you but I don't want anyone to have any misunderstanding about us. Unlike you, I have my family's reputation on the line" He said in a hateful yet controlled tone. He turned around not willing to look at him and risk getting angrier.

Sasuke hurtful words left Naruto speechless. He knew Sasuke felt a little uncomfortable with their relationship around other people but there was no one here. Does he really think Naruto was wrong? Then what was right? He was scared, he wanted to believe that Sasuke was just angry.

"I am not trying to do anything, Sasuke. I have always been like that. I may have become a little protective over you, coz I worry about you. Don't I even have that right?" he asked softly.

"What right? Who gave you that right?" Sasuke continued to face the other way but his temper had damped down a little. He didn't like the way Naruto sounded at the moment never intending to make him sad. But Sakura's words kept revolving in his head and he wanted to make sure that Naruto doesn't become a problem for him or himself.

Naruto was trying to hold back his tears, he knew where the conversation was going but he couldn't stop himself from continuing. His voice barely came out above whispers.

"No right? After all the times we have been together, all the things we have done together, you…"he stopped when he saw Sasuke tensed up, fisting his hands tightly on his sides.

All too soon, he remembered what had made him mad at Sakura. Her words _"it is easier to fall for someone out of your league and get together with them too. But you are not the only one who knows that you are unmatched. Not too soon they realise that they have made a mistake. And then comes….. second thoughts…"_ His words got stuck in his mouth. He swallowed his tears and tried to sound normal. _'Sasuke doesn't want me to cling, he needs space'_ he tried to reason out with himself.

"I….understand…." And that's all he could say before he turned around and slowly made his way out of the court unaware of the uncertain eyes of their pink haired meddler.

Sakura Haruno walked back to the school campus after eavesdropping on the arguing pair. Unlike earlier today, she was no longer confident and happy over the outcomes. After seeing the emotional interactions between her two friends, she felt a little guilty.

Naruto did not return to any of his classes that and was missing the next day too.

That night she dreamt of the same scene that she had witnessed in the basket-ball court.

 _I ….. understand."_ She heard the last words before she woke up. Tears started falling down her face when she realised, it was not Naruto who had uttered them in her dream.

It was her.

Sakura couldn't contain her happiness. She was finally alone with her love under the star lit sky in a most romantic date, she could ever imagine. OK. It wasn't officially a date but she couldn't care less. She knew it was going to be extremely difficult to ask Sasuke to the festival, so she had asked everyone to go to the festival together. Everyone, apart from Tenten and Shikamaru had agreed to come, since the two in question surprisingly had dates. It did not take long to convince Sasuke as he didn't want to stay home for some reason. Naruto had been missing since Thursday, so he wasn't informed.

Dressed in a beautiful pink coloured Kimono with thick golden border on the netted sleeves, collar and lower helm, she looked nothing less than a fairy tale princess herself. Her hair was tied in a knot held up with a pink and white flower hair pin and some of the strands loosely fell over her face giving her a cute yet elegant look. A touch of professional makeup enhanced her beautiful sea green eyes and flawless fair skin.

After two hours of roaming around, playing various games, catching koi fishes, they decided to check various food stalls. Sakura saw the sour mood on Sasuke's face and quickly told everyone to go ahead as she was tired and wanted to sit a little, asking Sasuke if he was fine to accompany her. Finding this a better option, he quietly agreed.

She was sitting on a bench near a stall while Sasuke had gone to get something for her to drink. He was dressed in a simple light brown shirt and black trousers but looked nothing less than a prince himself. She smiled brightly hiding half of her face shyly under the helm of her sleeve. Sasuke had complemented her on her looks today. True, that she asked him how she looked but that never stopped him from ignoring the question before.

"Here" Sakura looked up breaking away from her reverie. Sasuke had brought a stick of honey dumplings and cup of lemonade. He sat next to her on the bench and stared ahead at the busy stalls.

"You are not having anything?" Sakura asked softly.

"Hn." He answered. He wasn't hungry, he wanted to say. But didn't. He was lost in his own thoughts and didn't want to start a conversation. Looking up at the star filled sky, he couldn't help but feel guilty over something he believed was no big deal. He didn't plan on coming to the festival too but didn't want Itachi to bug him with his meddlings. So, coming with the group was the best bet. Then there was Sakura. No matter, how many 'just friends' vibes she had tried sending to him, he knew she still held some feelings for him. But he was glad that unlike others, she had stopped clinging to him. She had also helped him become more serious about his image and responsibilities as an Uchiha.

"Sasuke kun, I want to see the fireworks. Will you please accompany me?" Seeing the hesitation on his face, she continued. "It's very noisy in here anyways, the area near the lake is quite peaceful. It's a nice place to watch the fireworks." She smiled playing with the helm of her sleeves.

"Hn." He said standing up. Sakura got up and walked along with Sasuke to the lake side and led him to a spot farther away with the beautiful view of the sky. It was all too romantic to her and she was dancing with joy inside. Looking at Sasuke, she admired the elegant face of her prince charming who was once again lost in his thoughts. He seemed to have drifted in and out several times today and she really wanted to know what he was thinking.

"Sasuke kun?" She asked startling him. "Is something bothering you? I may not be able to help you, but I can listen." She asked softly.

"It's nothing." He said dismissing her question. Looking back at the sky, he waited for the onslaught of questions but the response was slow and unexpected.

"I… understand." She had answered barely above a whisper. The reply felt like a hammer on his ears. The words kept repeating in his head but slowly morphed into someone else's voice all together. He looked at Sakura intently as if expecting the fair pink haired girl to suddenly change into a tan blond haired boy. She was looking at the sky oblivious to his turmoil.

"Why do you like me?" he asked abruptly.

"Huh?"

"Is it because I am good looking? rich? smart? What is it?" He asked in a serious tone.

Sakura took a few seconds looking calmly at the hidden anxiousness of his face.

"I will be lying if I denied all of that." She smiled gently and turned to look at the sky. "Every girl looks for these qualities in her partner but that is not the only thing. I like you because you are honest to yourself and the others. You do not pretend to please others. Whatever you do, you do it with your heart. And if there will be someone you love, you will love her honestly and completely." She turned to look at him with sincere emotions on her face. "I have been in love with you for a long time now and I am not even sure if you would even consider me for yourself. But I will happily delude myself until I can't in hopes of getting that love."

Sasuke heard her response in utter silence. There was no eagerness, no fake qualities or promises. It was simple and direct. For the first time in his life, he actually saw how beautiful Sakura really was. Her deep sea green eyes, long lashes, a dimple on her left cheek and heart shaped pink lips. Sakura was pretty, smart and from a good family. She was in love with him and tolerable too. Should he try going out with her? He looked at her pink lips which were parted a little and felt the urge to try kissing her.

Sakura saw the change on Sasuke's expression and him staring at his lips didn't confuse her at all. She slowly leaned forward closing her eyes.

Cherry. That was the first thing he thought of their kiss. Her lips were soft and sweet, maybe the taste of her lip gloss. He pressed their lips more to feel more but somehow, felt there was something missing.

They parted slowly, eyes still closed and lips wet. It was good, it really was, but, he felt that that's not what he wanted. It was like a dish he liked but wasn't his favourite one. His brows furrowed when he tried to concentrate on the taste he liked. Something that was a little spicy and a little tangy. His dark vision turned into golden and then slowly in blue. The blue became a colour, the colour of eyes. He could now see a face surrounded by sun. A tan face, with whisker like marks on both cheeks, shining blue eyes and a generously wide smile. Involuntarily, Sasuke's face broke into a small smile. ' _Yeah, who else it could be but you.'_

"Naruto?"

His eyes opened suddenly and saw Sakura looking on her left. He turned to see the person of his vision standing shocked frozen.

It took a second for him to realise what his situation was.

Naruto had seen them kissing.

Purpledragonoffire: Ok. That's all for now. Please forgive any grammatical or spelling mistakes. Take care :)

Edit :Corrected a few blunders and reposted.


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